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

On the day of the siege, we took it immediately!

Because the elite troops from Kashgar rebelled and marched on the capital last year, but were utterly defeated by Yelü Dashi.

Several of the commanding generals were captured alive, but Yelü Dashi did not kill them. Instead, he allowed them to continue leading troops and act as guides back to Kashgar.

Yelü Dashi continued his advance, personally leading the main force to capture Aksu, and then sending a detachment to occupy Hotan.

In the summer, Yelü Dashi conquered the entire territory of the Eastern Karakhanid Khanate, and his 50,000-strong army continued eastward, heading straight for Turpan.

Tens of thousands of enemy troops besieged the city. King Bilege of Gaochang lamented, "The Ming reinforcements will not arrive. Come with me out of the city and surrender."

After saying this, Bilge sent an envoy.

Yelü Dashi told the messenger, "As long as Bilege surrenders, I will still let him rule Gaochang."

"I swear to God that if I break this oath, may I be struck by lightning!"

The messenger hurriedly returned to the city to report.

Bilege, accompanied by his wife, children, officials, and the registers and maps of Gaochang, knelt outside the city to greet Yelü Dashi: "This humble prince pays his respects to His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Liao!"

Yelü Dashi dismounted and personally helped Bilege up: "I keep my word. I hereby appoint you as Protector-General, and you may continue to rule this place."

"Furthermore, I will not allow my troops to plunder; you only need to provide some military rations."

"Of course, I will leave an official to assist you."

Bilege was overjoyed and knelt down again, kowtowing and shouting, "Your Majesty, please accept my nine prostrations!"

Chapter 3540 Gaochang Kingdom

Yelü Dashi laughed and said, "What benefits will you get from submitting to the Ming emperor?"

"With the Western Xia in between, can the Ming Dynasty really send reinforcements?"

“Now that you have submitted to me, I will send troops to drive away whoever attacks Gaochang.”

Bilege quickly flattered, "The Emperor of Ming is of course no match for the Emperor of Liao."

"Get a pen and paper!"

Yelü Dashi said, "You personally wrote a letter to the Ming emperor, saying that as the suzerain, he was utterly incompetent for failing to protect his vassals."

"Now that you have switched allegiance to a wise ruler and are no longer a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, tell him not to send any more envoys here."

“This…” Bilege was completely dumbfounded.

He wasn't afraid of angering the Ming Dynasty and having them send troops to attack, after all, there was the Western Xia in between.

As long as the Western Xia dynasty was not destroyed, the Gaochang Uyghurs were safe.

But Gaochang is heavily reliant on the Silk Road. What if the Ming emperor were to impose trade sanctions on Gaochang if he angered him?

Yelü Dashi understood what Bilege was thinking and comforted him, "Don't worry. I have some connections with the Emperor of Ming, and I will send someone to deliver a letter of state to him."

"From now on, the Liao and Ming dynasties will remain brotherly nations."

“I can give the Liangshan Emperor face and recognize him as my elder brother; it won’t affect our trade.”

This is Yelü Dashi's true thought.

The Western Liao was far from the Ming Dynasty, so he didn't think there would be any major battles.

Although he swallowed up the vassal states of the Ming Dynasty, he also condescended to acknowledge the Liangshan Emperor as his elder brother.

Both sides are even, everyone is happy, and they can do business happily from now on.

If the Liangshan emperor doesn't give us face, then so be it, let's break up.

Can a trade embargo really stop smuggling?

After entering the city, Yelü Dashi wrote two official letters and sent envoys to the Ming Dynasty and the Western Xia Dynasty respectively.

He then said to Bilge, "If any Khitans or Han Chinese flee to your territory..."

"You must protect them and send these people to me."

“Yes, sir!” Bilege dared not object.

Yelü Dashi conquered the Eastern Karakhanid Khanate, and along the way, he strictly disciplined his troops, ensuring that they did not harm the people of any ethnicity.

At the same time, it also declared religious freedom, stating that no ethnic group would be forced to convert, nor would the customs and traditions of any ethnic group be changed.

However, he also secretly ordered the Khitans to forbid intermarriage with other Central Asian ethnic groups and to only practice Buddhism.

From now on, Khitan people within the territory of the Western Liao Dynasty will only be allowed to marry Khitan people or Han people, in order to ensure that they are not assimilated by those ethnic groups.

Now we're asking Bilege for help in bringing in more Khitans and Han Chinese.

Yelü Dashi stopped his horse and gazed eastward, muttering to himself, "Between you and me, a battle is likely inevitable sooner or later."

Bilege looked at Yelü Dashi, unable to cry even though he wanted to.

It was agreed that he would continue to rule Gaochang, but Yelü Dashi left officials behind to "assist" him.

In the past two days, he also replaced the generals he had courted in Gaochang and relieved Bilege of his military command.

Bilge returned to the palace and began to lie down and do nothing: "Bring me some wine!"

.....

The capital of the Western Xia Dynasty.

Prince Pu, Li Renzhong, and Prince Jin, Li Chage, sat on the left and right, one a civil official and the other a military officer.

After Richard led his troops to capture Baotou, he has become quite influential again in recent years.

He was arrogant and domineering in his words and deeds, and he also accepted bribes to promote officials. He even built a residence in the capital of Western Xia that exceeded the prescribed regulations.

However, when power reaches a delicate balance, people will still give the emperor face at crucial moments.

"What is the meaning of Yelü Dashi's letter?" Li Qianshun asked.

Chapter 3541 Sowing Discord

Li Renzhong speculated, "Could it be an attempt to sow discord?"

Richard had already guessed Yelü Dashi's thoughts: "What kind of instigation is this?"

"The Ming Dynasty's military strength was so great that it destroyed the Jin Dynasty, and even Yelü Dashi was afraid."

"Although I haven't read many books, I still understand the principle of 'if the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold'."

Li Renzhong also realized: "If my Great Xia is destroyed, Yelü Dashi will have to face the Ming Dynasty directly."

"Therefore, Yelü Dashi tried every means to protect my Great Xia."

Li Qianshun nodded and said, "That's for sure."

Li Renzhong said, "Your Majesty, our country can continue to be a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty."

"But we must also maintain good relations with the Liao Kingdom (Western Liao) and treat merchants from the Liao Kingdom well."

"If the Ming Dynasty sends troops to attack in the future, we should immediately request reinforcements from the Liao Dynasty. Yelü Dashi will definitely send troops to rescue us."

"Should we also swear an oath of fatherhood with the Liao Kingdom?"

Li Qianshun no longer cared about being a puppet emperor.

Li Renzhong shook his head: "No need. A country cannot serve two masters. We cannot give the Ming Dynasty an excuse to send troops."

“Since Yelü Dashi respects Emperor Zhu as his elder brother, our Great Xia and the Liao Kingdom can simply agree on an uncle-nephew relationship.”

"Your Majesty, please prepare the state gifts as soon as possible, and also arrange a marriage between Yelü Dashi and a princess in his marriage."

Li Qianshun agreed.

This kind of thing was all too familiar to the Western Xia.

The Liao Dynasty became the Western Liao, and the Song Dynasty became the Ming Dynasty; it was still the same Three Kingdoms relationship.

The Ming Dynasty and the Western Liao were like brothers, and the Western Xia obediently acted as a son and nephew.

Once Dad calls, go to Uncle for help and teach that unfilial father a lesson.

After discussing it further, Li Renzhong and Richard took their leave.

Soon, Li Qianshun, carrying Richard on his back, called Li Renzhong back and asked, "How is the firearms production going?"

Li Renzhong said, "We have already built six cannons and more than one hundred muskets."

"Set a time for me to inspect the firearms," ​​Li Qianshun said.

Several days later, Li Qianshun arrived at the firearms testing ground.

Li Renzhong pointed to the cannons and introduced them, saying, "There are six cannons, divided into three types."

"Cast iron cannons are prone to bursting, so they must be reinforced with several iron hoops. Forged iron cannons are too slow to forge."

"Bronze cannons are too expensive to make, and there isn't enough copper available."

Artillery is really not complicated.

The Jin Dynasty was too plagued by internal strife, leaving it with no time to develop.

Even so, they were secretly developing firearms before the fall of the Jin Dynasty.

The Western Xia developed firearms even earlier, because they were badly hurt by these things.

To date, the Western Xia dynasty has been developing its technology for nine years.

Although the gunpowder had not yet reached its optimal ratio and the granulation of gunpowder was unknown, several types of artillery had already been developed.

"boom!"

With a loud bang, the shell flew out.

Unfortunately, the shells landed randomly, sometimes dozens of meters away from the target.

Li Renzhong said, "Your Majesty, I have been training the gunners, and they are becoming more and more accurate than before."

Li Qianshun praised, "King Pu has made great contributions."

After testing the cannons, they tested the muskets.

More than a hundred matchlock guns fired simultaneously with a high rate of success and accuracy.

But this was just a rehearsal.

Without granulated black powder, packing it too tightly or too loosely will affect the range and may even prevent it from firing properly.

If they were on the battlefield, the musketeers would definitely be nervous and would find it difficult to reach the level they had practiced in peacetime.

Chapter 3542 Western Xia Also Needs to Make Cannons

To ensure a high firing rate, musketeers using powdered gunpowder would typically fill the gunpowder container about halfway full.

But this would affect the range and power of the musket.

The same applies to artillery.

Li Qianshun asked, "How many muskets can you manufacture in a year?"

Li Renzhong said, "It depends on the number of craftsmen and their skills."

"With the existing craftsmen, more than a hundred muskets can be made a year."

"I will allocate another hundred craftsmen to you to quickly forge three thousand muskets!" Li Qianshun said.

Li Qianshun wanted to create a musketeer corps not only to deal with the Ming Dynasty, but also to suppress the increasingly arrogant Richard.

Training a musketeer corps of three thousand men was nothing to the Ming Dynasty, but it was quite a challenge for the Western Xia.

Moreover, the Western Xia were also casting cannons.

Li Qianshun then asked, "It is rumored that the Ming Dynasty has a type of firearm that can fire without a match cord?"

Li Renzhong said, "It should be fired with flint."

"But I had the craftsmen make several, and they worked sometimes and didn't."

"Ten pulls of the trigger spring will only fire three or four times at most, and no amount of improvement can increase that."