Chapter 8 188 Yuan Hao Establishes Xi Xia

Song Zhenzong used the method of compromise and peace to settle down on the other side of the Liao Dynasty; the nobles of the Dangxiang tribe (one of the ancient ethnic minorities) on the northwest border often invaded the border of the Song Dynasty while the Song Dynasty was busy dealing with the Liao Dynasty.Song Zhenzong was tired of coping, so he had to compromise and give in, and named Li Jiqian, the leader of the party Xiang clan, as the governor of Xiazhou and the Jiedu envoy of the Dingnan Army.In 1004 AD, after Li Jiqian's death, he named his son Li Deming the King of Xiping, and gave a large amount of silver and silk every year, and it was stable for more than 30 years.

Li Deming's son Yuan Hao (sound hao) is an ambitious man.He is proficient in Chinese and Buddhism, and led troops to defeat Tubo, Uighur and other tribes many times, expanding his territory.He persuaded Deming not to surrender to the Song Dynasty.Deming didn't want to break with the Song Dynasty, so he said to his son: "We have been able to wear brocade clothes for the past thirty years. It is a reward from the Song Dynasty. It is not easy to betray them!" Yuan Hao said: "Wearing fur and herding cattle and sheep are the customs of our party. A hero should start his own business. How can he covet such benefits?"

Deming said, "According to you, what should we do?" Yuan Hao said: "The rewards we got are just for us to enjoy, but the people in the tribe are still very poor. In my opinion, it is better to refuse the tribute and train soldiers and horses. If you are weak, you can plunder, and if you are big, you can seize land. Wouldn’t it be better if they could all become rich.” But Li Deming still refused to accept his opinion. It wasn't until Deming's death that Yuan Hao inherited the title of King Xiping that he set up official positions and reorganized the army according to his own ideas, preparing to get rid of the control of the Song Dynasty and establish his own family.

His uncle Shan Yu persuaded Yuan Hao not to oppose the Song Dynasty, but Yuan Hao refused.Shan Yu fled to the Song Dynasty, and the officials of Yanzhou in the Song Dynasty were afraid of offending Yuan Hao, so they arrested Shan Yu and sent him back to Yuan Hao.Knowing that his intentions had been exposed, Yuan Hao officially proclaimed his accession to the throne in 1038 A.D., with the country name Daxia and the capital Xingqing (now Yinchuan, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region).Because it was in the northwest of the Song Dynasty, it was called Xixia in history. After Yuan Hao came to the throne, the above table asked the Song Dynasty to recognize it.At that time, Song Zhenzong had died, and his son Song Renzong Zhao Zhen was in power.The monarchs and ministers of the Song Dynasty discussed it for a while, thinking that this was Yuan Hao's anti-Song expression, so they ordered Yuan Hao to be stripped of his title as king of Xiping, cut off trade, and posted a reward at the border checkpoints to capture Yuan Hao.This angered Yuan Hao, so he decided to attack aggressively.

At that time, the Song Army had 300,000 to 400,000 soldiers stationed in the northwest, but these soldiers were scattered in hundreds of fortresses in 24 states, and the troops in each state were directly commanded by the imperial court and did not cooperate with each other.In addition, the Song army hadn't fought for a long time, and the soldiers lacked training.Xixia's cavalry was under centralized command and flexible, so the Song army often lost battles. A year later, the Xixia Army attacked Yanzhou, and the Song Army suffered another major defeat.Song Renzong was very annoyed and dismissed Fan Yong, the magistrate of Yanzhou, and sent ministers Han Qi and Fan Zhongyan to Shaanxi to direct the war against Xixia.

When Fan Zhongyan arrived in Yanzhou, he reformed the military system on the border. He divided the 16,000 troops in Yanzhou into six groups, led by six generals, and practiced day and night, which improved the combat effectiveness of the Song army, which was originally very loose. Seeing the tight defense of the Song army, the Xixia soldiers did not dare to invade Yanzhou.They commented: "Little Fan Laozi (referring to Fan Zhongyan) has tens of thousands of armored soldiers in his chest, but he is not as easy to bully as Dafan Laozi (referring to Fan Yong)." Fan Zhongyan analyzed the forces of both sides and advocated strengthening the defense to contain Xixia's forces, but Han Qi advocated attacking.

In February 1041, the Xixia Army led by Yuan Hao personally invaded Weizhou. Han Qi gathered all the troops and selected 18,000 warriors, and Ren Fu led the attack. Ren Fu led thousands of cavalry to drive for a while, and when he saw a Xixia soldier, the two sides fought for a while, and the Xixia soldier left his horse and camel and fled.Ren Fu sent people to reconnaissance. Hearing that there were not many enemy soldiers in front, he followed closely behind.After driving for three days and three nights, we arrived at Haoshuichuan (now Longdexi, Ningxia), and it was already dark.Ren Fu ordered the soldiers to rest on the spot, planning to wait until the next morning to join up with another Song army that had been agreed in advance to fight in Shuichuan and kill all the enemy soldiers.

The next day, Ren Fu led the Song Army westward along the Haoshui River, and arrived at the foot of Liupan Mountain, but found no Xixia soldiers.I saw a few silver clay boxes on the side of the road, sealed very tightly. The soldiers stepped forward, picked up the silver clay boxes and listened, and there was a beating sound inside.The soldier told Ren Fu, and Ren Fu ordered the soldier to open the box.There were only a few "puff puffs", and more than a hundred pigeons with whistles flew out one after another, circling and flying above Song Jun's head. It turned out that the retreat of that small group of Xixia soldiers was fake.At the foot of Liupan Mountain, Yuan Hao brought one hundred thousand elite soldiers and set up an ambush.Just waiting for the pigeon to fly, the Xixia soldiers on all sides rushed out and surrounded the Song army tightly.Song Jun struggled to break through.Fighting from morning to noon, the enemy line waved a big banner.Another large number of Xixia soldiers rushed out from both sides.Song soldiers retreated while beating, and many retreated to the cliff and fell to their deaths.

Ren Fu was hit by more than a dozen arrows, and the soldiers persuaded Ren Fu to escape.Ren Fu said: "As a general, I am defeated now. I can only serve the country with my death." He rushed up again and was assassinated by Xixia soldiers. In this battle, Yuan Hao won a big victory, and Song Jun suffered heavy casualties.Han Qi was very sad when he heard the news, and asked the court to punish him. Song Renzong dismissed Han Qi.Although Fan Zhongyan did not directly command the war, he was falsely accused and demoted. After this fight, there were many wars in Song and Xia, and the Song army repeatedly lost troops and lost generals. Song Renzong had to use Han Qi and Fan Zhongyan to defend the border again.The two worked together, caressed the soldiers, and strictly enforced military discipline, so Xixia dared not attack again.