Cui Yingying filled the wine glass on the table, while Bai Yutian read the letter and took a sip from time to time, with an extremely nervous expression. Just because he had never seen such a letter before, the amount of information in the letter was a bit too large for a warrior like him, and it was difficult to remember it for a while. Forced by Wushan Taoist's prudent attitude, he read the letter several times and almost understood it. He handed the letter back to Wushan Taoist and finished the glass of wine.
Taoist Wushan took the letter, folded it and put it back into the bag, drank the wine in the glass, and asked, "What can you see?"
Bai Yutian smiled and replied: "To tell you the truth, Taoist priest, I am just a mountain warrior. I don't understand national affairs. If you look at it, you have not watched it. However, there is no good or bad, right or wrong in the national war. I can't fight rashly." It must be better not to start a war rashly, what Master Fan Zhongyan said in his letter is not unreasonable."
Taoist Wushan smiled and said, "Although Sir Fan's words are good, he has forgotten one truth."
Bai Yutian asked, "What's the point?" He picked up the jug, filled the wine glass, and gave a toast to Wushan Taoist.
Wushan Taoist drank the wine in the glass, put down the glass and said: "There are three kinds of people in the world, one is afraid of power but not virtue, one is afraid of virtue but not fear of power, one is afraid of power but also is afraid of virtue." After drinking the white jade sky, Jinglai After drinking the wine, he continued: "Li Yuanhao accumulated the merits of his ancestors and occupied an area of thousands of miles just to escape from the Song Dynasty and establish himself as emperor. How could he make peace with the Song Dynasty court until he was desperate and at the end of the road. Emperors have always done it for their own merits. But he has put the life and death of others behind him and is a typical person who fears power but not virtue. Isn’t it too early to talk to him about making peace with him at this time?”
Bai Yutian filled the wine glass and said softly: "Although war can nourish the war, long-term war will damage the country. How can we continue fighting endlessly? No matter what the purpose of provoking a war, if the hostile forces cannot be completely eliminated, there should be During a timeout, shaking hands and making peace is the best way out."
Wushan Taoist drank the wine in his glass, dropped it heavily on the table, and said angrily: "But as soon as this letter was written, the defeat of the northwest war was determined, and it was almost a fact that the Song Dynasty lost the stability of its northwest frontier, and there would be no more days. "
When Bai Yutian saw and heard this, he asked blankly: "Why did the Taoist Master say this?"
Wushan Taoist said: "Li Yuanhao broke away from the Song Dynasty and established himself. In order to force the Song Dynasty to recognize his status as the Xixia Kingdom, he sent troops south to invade the Song Dynasty. He defeated the Song army at Sanchuankou and approached Yanzhou. The Song Dynasty was shaken, and the emperor was frightened. He granted Xia Song the title He was the envoy to appease the Shaanxi Road Economic Strategy, and Han Qi and Fan Zhongyan were deputy envoys, jointly responsible for fighting against Xixia affairs. Han Qi advocated an all-out attack and fighting to determine victory or defeat. Fan Zhongyan believed that it was difficult to defeat the Xia army in one battle, so he should proceed slowly, and advocated surrendering to appease On the one hand, Xia Song wanted to make great achievements, but on the other hand, he was afraid of being blamed for the defeat, so he became a peacemaker so that neither side would offend. Han Qi reported his idea to the court and received support from many parties. The court finally abandoned Fan Zhongyan's worries and adopted Han Qi's idea. Qi’s proposal was to take the initiative to send troops to attack Xixia.”
Bai Yutian filled Taoist Wushan's wine glass and bowed to each other.
Wushan Taoist drank the wine in his glass and continued: "Du Wenguang, a Xia man, spied in Yanzhou and found out that the Song Dynasty court wanted to gather troops and horses to attack Xixia. He reported it to Li Yuanhao. Yuanhao was good at planning and turned passivity into initiative. To strike first is to be stronger, so we gathered troops and horses, crossed the border, moved and disturbed, and went straight to Xingzhou and Lingzhou, with thunder and lightning that could not cover our ears."
Bai Yutian filled the wine glass and asked, "What does this have to do with Lord Fan's letter?"
Wushan Taoist laughed and said: "It is not directly related. However, the generals of the Song Dynasty did not have autonomy in fighting on the frontier. Everything must be reported to the court first, and the decision can only be implemented after the court's decision is passed. He, Li Yuanhao, remembered these good things in his memory. In my heart, I sent troops to invade the Qin and Wei states. I was afraid that Fan Zhongyan of Yanzhou would send troops to help in time, so I followed Fan Zhongyan's desire to appease and surrender and sent envoys to make peace."
Bai Yutian said: "Are you saying that Li Yuanhao's correspondence with Lord Fan and his promise to make peace were just a way to delay the war?"
Wushan Taoist drank the wine in his glass and said coldly: "Master Fan went deep into the border area and knew that the war in the northwest cannot be won overnight, so he should take action slowly. He saw that Li Yuanhao's letter was not written, and there were aliases in it. He did not include Li Yuanhao's letter. The letter was sent to the court. I had something in mind, so I also had the attitude of giving it a try, so I wrote the letter and sent the custodians Han Zhou and Zhang Zongyong to go to the Xia Kingdom with Gui Yande and fall into his art."
After the food was served, Bai Yutian filled the wine glasses for the five of them, and the table was full of people drinking together while the food was in their mouths.
After drinking for three rounds, Ah Xing asked: "Taoist Priest, I heard that in the Battle of Haoshuichuan, the Song army was defeated, corpses were everywhere, and blood flowed into rivers. Do you know what happened? Can you tell me something?"
Wushan Taoist chewed, swallowed the pork in his mouth, and asked: "I heard that you White Lotus Sect members also participated in this battle, how could you not know?"
A Zhu replied: "Although we are members of the White Lotus Sect, as daughters, we never ask about foreign affairs. How could we know about this matter?"
Wushan Taoist heard this, drank the wine offered by Bai Yutian, and said slowly: "Li Yuanhao, Jingzong of Xixia, learned that the Song Dynasty court had decided to attack Xixia with all its strength, and that the army was about to be dispatched, so he took the initiative to lead an army of 100,000 people to go south to attack the Song Dynasty. Because the northwest was at that time Fan Zhongyan was in charge of the military affairs of the Song army. He was resourceful and well-defended. He never underestimated the enemy and advanced rashly. The Xixia army did not dare to act rashly.
In order to defeat the Song army, Li Yuanhao hatched a plan. While exchanging letters with Fan Zhongyan, intending to sue for peace, he ambush the main force of troops at the mouth of Haoshui River, sent a small group of troops to attack Huaiyuan City, and made harsh words, claiming that he would attack Wei Prefecture, lure the Song army to go deep.
Han Qi's idea of conquering Xixia was strongly supported by the imperial court. He refused to listen to Fan Zhongyan's dissuasion and insisted on his own opinion. He sent Ren Fu, the deputy capital of Huanqing, to lead an army of more than 50,000 people. He arrived at Yanglong City from the Zhenrong Army. After leaving Xia, he waited for an opportunity to defeat Han Qi. Xixia, little did they know that the Xixia ambush was waiting for them.
Ren Fu led his army to Huaiyuan City, and encountered the Zhenrong Army patrolling the west road. Chang Ding fought with the Xixia army south of Zhangyi Fort, killing thousands of Xixia troops and winning. Seeing the continuous reinforcements from Xixia soldiers and horses, Chang Ding asked for help, and Ren Fujun rushed to the local area to provide support. Li Yuanhao saw that the soldiers and horses of the Song Dynasty had moved, and it was time to lure the enemy deep and join forces to encircle and annihilate them. So he ordered the Xia army to pretend to be defeated, Ren Fu fell into the trap, and pursued him. The Song army was very exhausted due to long-distance pursuit, lack of food and grass, and lack of men and horses. After chasing to Haoshuichuan, they were ambushed by the main force of the Xixia army led by Li Yuanhao. The Song army was defeated, Ren Fu and other generals died in the battle, and almost the entire army was destroyed. "
A Zhu was puzzled and asked: "Taoist Master, Haoshuichuan is located on the Loess Plateau with bare mountain tops, which is convenient for sentries to observe the terrain and spy on intelligence. No matter how scheming Li Yuanhao of Xixia is to hide his army and set up an ambush, he has to go dozens of miles away. He How did you know the Song Army’s marching route and enter the ambush circle?”
Bai Yutian filled the glass and paid tribute to one of the Wushan Taoist priests. He echoed: "Yes, Taoist Master. Since Lord Han Qi dares to send General Ren Fu to attack Xixia, General Ren Fu must have experienced hundreds of battles and is invincible in combat." , how could you easily fall into Xia Jun’s trap?”
Wushan Taoist put down his wine glass, picked up a piece of tofu, ate it, took a sip of soup, and said calmly: "Han Qi was ordered to attack Xixia, ordered the forts to be under martial law, and went to the border. As soon as they reached Gaoping, the Xia soldiers had entered Wei. At the border of the state, Bo Huaiyuan City rushed to suppress the Rong army, mobilized all their troops, and recruited 8,000 warriors. He ordered the general manager Ren Fu to lead him, with the governor Sang Yi as the vanguard, and the governor Zhu Guan, the governor Wuying, etc. The generals led their subordinates. Han Qi taught Ren Fu the strategy of marching into Xixia. He issued three orders and five orders, be careful and do not underestimate the enemy and advance rashly.
That night, the Xia soldiers moved to the far southeast of Huaihuai. The next day, they fought with the soldiers and horses led by Chang Ding and Liu Su, who inspected the west road of Fusuobu, in Zhangjiabao. They abandoned their cattle, sheep, horses and camels and pretended to be defeated. Ren Fu led thousands of light cavalry to advance from Longchuan. In the evening, he and Sang Yi's troops and horses were stationed at Haoshuichuan. Zhu Guan, Wuying and other generals led their troops to station at Liaoluochuan, which was separated by Longshan Mountain, about five miles away. , waiting to join forces the next day.
At that time, Li Yuanhao stationed 100,000 elite troops at Sichuan Pass. He had already sealed more than a hundred pigeons in silver clay boxes and placed them on both sides of the road. In the early morning, Ren Fu and General Sang Yi marched westward along the mountains and rivers. They came out of the foot of Liupan Mountain and were about to arrive at Yangmulong City. The soldiers saw a silver clay box on the side of the road and thought they had seen a treasure. When they opened it, a pigeon fell out of the box. Fly out and circle over the army.
Li Yuanhao's troops, mostly cavalry, who had been ambushing all around, surrounded them in a short time. They fought from morning to noon. The two armies were in a stalemate. Yuanhao suddenly ordered Bao Lao's flag to be planted in the formation, which was more than two feet long, and his left command was on the left. The troops on the right rose up and attacked from the back of the mountain. Many of the officers and soldiers fell down the cliff and overwhelmed each other. Sang Yi and Liu Su died in the battle.
Yuan Hao divided his troops and cut off Ren Fu's return. Ren Fu led his troops to fight and was hit by more than ten arrows. Liu Jin, a junior high school student, persuaded Ren Fu to escape the siege alone. Ren Fu was unyielding and courageous. He wielded a four-edged iron sword in a duel. He was shot in the left cheek and died from his throat. His son Ren Huailiang also died in the battle. Yuan Hao joined forces to attack Zhu Guan and Wu Ying, killing Wu Ying, Geng Fu who joined the army, and Zhao Jin, the governor of Weizhou, etc. However, Zhu Guan and thousands of his men escaped death. "After he finished speaking, he drank the wine in the glass with a sad look on his face, as if he was on a battlefield.
Bai Yutian felt uncomfortable after hearing this. He drank the wine in one gulp and said, "Who is so ruthless and wants to get along with someone so viciously?"
Wushan Taoist said: "Who else can there be? Zhang Yuan, a scholar from Huazhou. This man is very conspiratorial and has many strange plans. He has a perverse temperament and likes to kill. Li Yuanhao is cruel and admires his strategies very much, so he relies on him very much. He likes water and rivers. After the war, he was still shameless and wrote poems on the wall of the temple, saying: 'How could Xia Song ever stand tall? It's not surprising that Han Qi, the river is full of dragons and tigers, and he still talks about military aircraft.'"
Bai Yutian was very puzzled by Zhang Yuan's behavior and asked: "Taoist Priest, if Zhang Yuan wins, he wins. Why do you still write poems to humiliate him?"
Wushan Taoist said: "There is no mutual competition. At first, the imperial court appointed Xia Song, the Minister of Household Affairs, as the Shaanxi economic envoy. Entering the fortress, he pretended to be a foil seller and left his box in a restaurant. Someone got it and offered it to Xia Song. When he opened it, he found a list in it that read, "He got the head of Xia Song and gave him three thousand coins."
Bai Yutian said: "Xia Song didn't expose Zhang Yuan, so is it necessary for Zhang Yuan to run against Xia Song?"
Wushan Taoist sneered and said: "Zhang Yuanbo traveled to the fortress to see the mountains and rivers and customs. He was eager to learn something and was ashamed to recommend himself. So he carved a poem stele for people to drag by. He indulged in poetry and wine, and spoke astonishingly. The commanders all knew nothing about it, and felt at a loss. Hearing that Yuanhao had glimpsed China many times, he walked west. After passing Xiang Yu Temple, he drank heavily. In front of the wine statue, he sang the tragic song "The Emperor of Qin was ignorant, Liu and Xiangqi annexed it" Words, written in great sorrow."
Bai Yutian asked: "Could it be that the frontier commanders who drove him out of the frontier fortress were Xia Song, Han Qi and others?"
Wushan Taoist replied: "Judging from the poems on the border, it must be the work of these generals."
After a moment of silence, he sighed and said: "In the past, Duke Cuo of Wei recommended Wei Yang to King Hui and said, 'If you don't use it, kill him immediately.' The king thought it was contrary to his will and refused to listen. Later, Yang entered Qin, thus strengthening Qin and weakening Wei. Gai Huaicai. If a scholar is not used by me, he will become the enemy's asset. What's more, he is suave and unruly, just like the two of them! At this time, Song, Han, and Fan are in need of talented soldiers. All smart men are in the right position and have the right weapons. Everyone deserves it, but if only two people lose it, isn’t it a miracle!”
[Historian Chen said: "Yuan Hao took advantage of China's unpreparedness, and all the invaders invaded the border. Three of the king's divisions were defeated. How could it be that the weather was unfavorable? It was also because of people's misguided plans. Haoshuichuan was defeated, and all the generals fought hard to death. . Hey, if you pursue profit and violate the rules, you have lost your plan. However, if you uphold justice and are unyielding, you are just a martyr!"
One of the discussants said: "Fortunately, people who have never cared for themselves will be ordered to face the enemy, and the legal system will not be established. They will also divide themselves for profit, leading to defeat."
That's almost not true. When Yuan Hao heard the imperial court's condemnation, he planned to gather troops together to resist the official army. When the court meeting was suspended, the troops were divided into four groups. Gai Rujing was the original leader of the battle, and it would not be enough to defeat him unless he made a big attack. Therefore, he pretends to make peace to cut off Yanzhou's aid, and to fake defeat because of the arrogance of the generals. The silver lining along the roadside and the flags growing in the formation are so cunning and clever that they can't predict it! Books "seduce" and books "defeat" are cunning. 】
