Water Margin: The opening scene involves assassinating Emperor Huizong of Song and forcibly taking L

"They are not Song soldiers, they are Ming soldiers now,"

The son explained,

"The Han people have a new emperor,"

"The Song Kingdom was renamed the Great Ming Kingdom."

"Those Ming armies are protected by ghosts and gods,"

"The divine cannon can hit targets several miles away,"

"Even the generals' armor couldn't stop it."

"The Great Xia Kingdom has suffered a defeat."

"It will be destroyed by the Ming Dynasty sooner or later."

The old chieftain asked, "The Ming Dynasty has sent us to contact the Governor-General of the Hehuang region."

"Do you mean we should defect to the Ming and rebel?"

Will they provide food if they rebel?

The son shook his head: "They didn't say we were to rebel."

"He might be an inside man,"

"To pass on messages occasionally,"

"We will defect again in future wars."

"They didn't say whether they would provide food or not,"

"They only said that there would be a great reward for destroying the Great Xia."

"but....."

"But what?" the old chief asked.

The son said, "But we can exchange women for grain."

"The Ming Dynasty has recruited many of your sons,"

"They were settled in the Karo River Valley to cultivate the land."

"Most of them are single,"

“If each department sends women over,”

"One woman can be exchanged for two bushels of grain."

"Send it to Karo River?" the old chieftain asked.

The son said, "We'll send it wherever it's closest."

"This is the best route to Xiguanbao from here,"

“Send the woman to Xiguanbao and you can exchange her for grain.”

The old chief had been driven to the brink of desperation.

If we can't get food,

Many members of our tribe will starve to death this year.

After this battle,

There are many widows in the tribe.

There were widows in the past during wartime.

They were mostly adopted by the husband's brothers.

It would be better to send the widows out to exchange for grain.

This would both provide food to sustain the tribe

It can also make life better for widows.

In the face of group survival,

Stop talking about morality!

.....

News of the major defeat at the front

The message was first sent to the Gansu military headquarters.

Next came the Xishou Military Command and the Jingse Military Command.

Richard robbed tribes along the way.

When he returned to Yingli (Zhongwei City) with his elite troops,

Even the ruler of the Western Xia Kingdom received the battle report.

Within the Western Xia kingdom, the people were filled with fear and unease.

Li Renzhong, who was originally Richard's mortal enemy,

However, he advised the Western Xia emperor,

"Your Majesty, you must not strip the Prince of Jin of his military power,"

"Otherwise, great chaos will surely break out in the country."

"I heard that the Prince of Jin led several thousand elite troops in a breakout,"

"The troops under his command are the cornerstone of the nation,"

"He must be allowed to continue leading the troops to guard against tribal rebellions."

"He abandoned his army and fled; how can he be considered without fault?" Li Qianshun questioned.

Li Renzhong said, "He has indeed committed a grave offense."

"But they can be demoted in rank or official position,"

"His military power should not be stripped."

"In this way, His Majesty's majesty can be demonstrated,"

"Secondly, it can stabilize the morale of both the military and the people,"

"Three things can make the King of Jin grateful."

Li Qianshun pondered carefully, then nodded and said...

"That makes sense."

Li Renzhong added, "Your Majesty could take this opportunity to promote some of your own people to civil service positions."

"Your Majesty can also take this opportunity to appoint some trusted confidants to oversee the various departments."

"You are truly a pillar of the nation,"

Li Qianshun said.

"The Prime Minister has already been defeated and killed in battle against the Southern Army."

"Why not let my beloved minister succeed to the position of prime minister?"

Li Renzhong politely declined, saying, "Your Majesty, I am still relatively inexperienced."

"And lacking in virtue,"

"I am afraid he is not up to the task of serving as prime minister."

Li Qianshun said, "You are not up to the task."

"Who else is suitable to be the prime minister?"

"Let's not dwell on this matter."

"I have made my decision."

"News from Lanzhou has come from Han Chinese,"

"They said the two countries could negotiate peace,"

"The Great Xia must return all the land it occupied last year."

"What do you think, my dear minister?"

"Our army has suffered heavy losses and is severely weakened, and the Southern Army Command is also gone,"

Li Renzhong said,

"The most urgent task is to rebuild the Southern Army Commandery and construct a new city in Jisang (Gulang),"

"As the garrison of the Southern Army."

"Otherwise, if the Han soldiers were to attack,"

"We can march straight to Liangzhou (Wuwei)."

Liangzhou was the legal secondary capital of Western Xia.

It is another key node on the Silk Road.

This is the most fatal aspect for the Western Xia.

Li Renzhong added, "Tens of thousands of soldiers from the Prince of Jin's army were captured."

"The military command of Xishou is already depleted of troops,"

“Those lands we recaptured last year,”

“The Tiandu area is definitely not safe from the Ming army.”

"Of course it can be returned there,"

"But other areas still need to be discussed."

What this guy means is,

Anyway, there are hardly any soldiers left in the Xishou Army Command.

Even if we wanted to defend it, we definitely couldn't.

It would be better to simply return Huizhou (Jingyuan) to the Ming Dynasty.

But in other places,

But they didn't want to give it.

Or rather, it needs to be done through negotiation.

Let's recover some of the losses before giving it to them.

In fact, as long as Western Xia returns to Huizhou...

This is already very advantageous for the Ming Dynasty.

If Western Xia wants to send troops again in the future...

We need to take Huizhou first.

Only then could they march along the Yellow River to attack Lanzhou.

Chapter 1738 Utter Defeat

Li Qianshun's feelings were hard to describe.

It was a mixture of many flavors.

This major defeat at the front

This is beneficial to his domestic rule.

Richard's prestige greatly diminished from that point on.

It is no longer possible to coerce the emperor.

Li Qianshun could seize this opportunity to regain control of the court.