Chapter 23: Collusion (Part 1)

In Xingqing Prefecture, Xixia Palace, Li Bingchang sat in a silence with a group of ministers.

That’s right, it’s a dull sitting, absolutely dull sitting!

There were at least a hundred or two hundred people together, but they all became muffled gourds. You looked at me and I looked at you, and no one spoke. The atmosphere in the hall was extremely depressing, as if the sky was falling, making people unable to even straighten their waists.

The monarch and ministers all lowered their heads, looking listless.

The arrogance of the past disappeared, and all it had was a sad look.

Even the two important officials, Li Zongbao and Liang Xi, were very worried and worried. After several days of treatment, their energy was much better, but they felt greater depression.

They only worry about one problem, that is, how to retreat from the Song Dynasty army. Although Li Zongbao and Liang Xi offered their plans, they mobilized the whole country's troops to fight to the death with the Song army, and sent people to negotiate with Wu Ji, delaying time.

However, they still have no idea. They are different from those Western Xia soldiers who only know how to rush. No matter who Xixia soldiers are, they can still rush into the valley and hide in the mountains. The Song Dynasty did not do anything and they were still happy.

Li Bingchang, Li Zongbao, and Liang Xi have different status and identities from ordinary Western Xia soldiers. Can they dig into the mountain valley? Once they are forced to drill into the mountain king, it means that the Xixia is over. The emperor Li Bingchang will lose his throne and can no longer be domineering or maintain his authority. Is he willing?

Absolutely not willing to do so.

The same is true for ministers like Li Zongbao and Liang Xi. They are reluctant to leave their status, wealth, and power.

They knew very well that even if the troops from the whole country were mobilized from Xixia, they might not be able to beat the Song army. In their impression, they knew very well how brave and fierce the Han people who had recovered their blood were. The Tang Dynasty's army was rampant in the northwest, who was the opponent? Whoever opposed the Tang Dynasty would be defeated.

Tubo, Tuyuhun, Uighurs, and Dashi, which one is not very powerful? Which one is stronger than the current Xixia, but the result is that it is defeated by the Tang Dynasty. Although Tubo and Dashi were not destroyed by the Tang Dynasty, they suffered a great loss. Tuyuhun and Uighurs were destroyed by the Tang Dynasty for a time.

Also, the Turks, who were rampant in Eurasia and known as the "lord of the seven kingdoms" and the "master of the world", were also destroyed by the Tang Dynasty.

If the Song army recovered its blood, then the Song army's combat power would be extremely powerful and terrifying. The current facts prove that the Song army's blood was stimulated, and the soldiers of the Xixia country may not be opponents.

Therefore, what they thought most was to withdraw from the Song army, even if they paid some price. The real purpose of Li Zongbao and Liang Xi was to negotiate was this, but only because of the face of the people of Xixia, which was said to be delaying.

Peace talks are indeed attractive. If they succeed, they can avoid disasters. If they fail, they can also achieve the goal of delaying time.

The problem is that Wu Ji is not an incompetent person. On the contrary, all kinds of signs show that Wu Ji is extremely smart and will definitely be able to see through the intentions of Xixia. Therefore, can the monarch and minister of Xixia be free from worries?

"You guys say, will Wu Ji have a peace talk?" Li Bingchang finally couldn't help it and asked again.

"Your Majesty, you have asked this hundreds of times. Will Wu Ji agree? How can we know? You have to know it when the messenger comes back." Li Zongbao complained in his heart, not daring to say it, and his head hangs even lower.

Whether Wu Ji can have a peace talk is the key. As long as Wu Ji agrees to the peace talks, Li Bingchang is willing to pay a high price. However, he is very clear that no one can tell whether his extravagant hope can be realized, because Wu Ji has the upper hand and has the initiative. Instead of having a peace talk, it is better to destroy Xixia.

However, from his own wishes, Li Bingchang still hoped that Wu Ji would agree to the peace talks. As long as Wu Ji agreed to the talks, it would be a good start and everything would be easy to discuss.

Since the envoy was sent, the monarch and ministers have been concerned about this issue, and Li Bing often asked this question from time to time. None of the ministers dared to answer, and it became a situation of being careless.

"Your Majesty, this matter must be turned back, and everything will be clear." Liang Xi raised his eyebrows, and he really didn't want to wait like this. This kind of waiting was tormenting: "If Wu Ji was willing to negotiate with us, everything was easy to discuss, even if it was a considerable price!"

"Yes! Yes!"

"Mr. Liang is right!"

This was the first time that Liang Xi had made it clear about the real purpose of this peace talks, and he immediately received the approval of a number of ministers. He paid the price to retreat, and they could still maintain their status, power and wealth. It was much more cost-effective than experiencing hardships in the mountains. They were willing to pay no matter how much they were.

"If Wu Ji is unwilling to negotiate with us, what should we do? This is what we should discuss at the moment." Liang Xi is worthy of being a person who rolled over in the sea of ​​blood. In this situation, he is still very calm and thorough in his mind.

"Yes! What Lord Liang said is exactly what my ministers are concerned about!" Li Zongbao replied loudly: "It is better to come and discuss this matter instead of sitting here and waiting for a dry place."

This is the truth, and no one dares to object. Li Bingchang did not want to discuss this matter. This was the thing he was most afraid of, but he had to discuss it. He had to bear the shock and said, "If Wu Ji did not negotiate with us, how should Daxia deal with it?"

"If Wu Ji doesn't have a peace talk, we will mobilize the whole country's soldiers to fight a battle with Wu Ji. I don't believe that the whole country's soldiers in Daxia cannot defeat Wu Ji!"

"How to fight? Xingqing Prefecture is a strong city, but how strong can it be compared to Xiazhou? Xiazhou gave Wu Ji a one-time move. How long can Xingqing Prefecture last?"

"Li Jing destroyed Tuyuhun when he was not as strong as the Song army at that time. Tuyuhun was as powerful as Li Jing. Although Daxia is strong, is it more powerful than Tuyuhun when he was back then?"

"The bloody attack of the Han people was thunderous! Su Dingfang destroyed the Western Turks. He used 10,000 people to deal with more than 100,000 Western Turks, and even beheaded tens of thousands in one fell swoop."

"And Li Jing, he actually dared to lead three thousand people to Jie Li Khan's nest! Although the Han people are timid and we look down on them, there are too many bloody attacks in the land of Daxia, which is amazing!"

The ministers argued with each other. If Wu Ji did not agree to the peace talks, he would have to fight. However, even if he fought, no one could beat him. Looking back on the brilliant battle examples of the Tang Dynasty in the northwest, their courage became even weaker.

"Strike, you know what else you know in addition to fighting?" After listening for a long time, Li Bingchang had no useful idea except for a lot of verbal disputes, and he couldn't help but get angry and scolded him.

The ministers were busy shutting up. Li Bingchang was in a bad mood. It was possible that he would chop off his own head and could not touch the bad intentions.

"Your Majesty, I think that when the Song army came to Hexi, it would not only threaten Daxia, but also Tubo. The emperor should send an envoy to Tubo to meet Dong Jin and ask Dong Jin to send troops to assist Daxia." Li Zonghe browed and suddenly remembered something, and couldn't help but be overjoyed.

"Dong Jie?"

"Tubo and Daxia have never been against each other. In order to deal with Daxia, Dong Wen resigned to Emperor Song. He has been enemies with Daxia many years. Why did Daxia bow to him?"

"It is okay to bow to Dong Wen and pay some price when Da Xia is alive. However, if Dong Wen takes advantage of the benefits and does not send troops to assist Da Xia, but instead helps the Song army, what can I do?"

"Tubo people like to betray their faith the most, and they cannot believe it!"

Before Li Bingchang could speak, the ministers quarreled. Xixia was entrenched in Hexi and fought many wars with Tubo. These two countries were a feud. It was difficult for Xixia to send people to reconcile with Tubo, but the ministers were still unable to accept it.

"Dong Jin?" Li Bingchang suddenly reminded him, frowning and thoughtfully said: "It is a strategy to connect Tubo to fight against the Song army! Although Tubo is no longer as strong as before, it is not as strong as the previous dynasty. During the previous dynasty, Tubo had hundreds of thousands of troops, fighting with the previous dynasty in Hexi and in the Western Regions, and once seized the four towns of Anxi. Although Tubo is not as strong as that, there are more than 100,000 troops, and is good at fighting. If we can get his help, our chances of victory will be great. The question is, is Dong Jin trustworthy?"

Speaking of this, Li Bingchang stood up and kept paced back and forth: "Dong Wen is a cunning man who is as betrayal as a fox. Although he was a minister to Emperor Song, he betrayed several times and plundered the Song realm. If he came to Hexi and started from behind, what should he do?"

Although Tubo is not as good as before, there are still more than 100,000 troops. If it can participate in the war, it will be a huge joy for Xixia in a difficult situation. The question is, is Dong Wen too cunning, can he be trustworthy? This is the most critical.

"What the emperor is very concerned about is reasonable! I think that Dong Wen is as cunning as a fox, but he knows how to choose." Liang Xi thought for a while and analyzed: "The Song army has a great appetite here and will never be satisfied with destroying Daxia. If it is not bad as expected, the Song army will take this opportunity to deal with Tubo in one fell swoop and march into the Western Regions. Only in this way can the troops be stopped and the troops will no longer be promoted! Dong Wen is smart and will not be unable to see this. The emperor, I think that Da Xia should send envoys to meet Dong Wen and discuss the joint forces!"

Although it was not intentional, it had an army of 250,000 in Hexi, which was an unprecedented great thing. If Song Shenzong didn't make good use of it, it wouldn't be Song Shenzong. Such a beautiful thing would be made more. After destroying the Western Xia, he would recover Tubo and the Western Regions. This is perfect. As long as it is something that everyone would think of, Song Shenzong would not have thought of it.

In this situation, Dong Wen had to consider the future of Tubo, and it was likely that with Xixia, he would turn war into jade and silk to deal with the Song army together. Li Bingchang hesitated for a while and said, "Since that's the case, I'll send an envoy to see Dong Wen and bring a generous gift."

"Report to the Emperor, the Tubo envoy is here!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a personal soldier rushed in excitedly and reported to Li Bingchang.

"Tubo envoy? It's great! Please invite me! Please invite me quickly!" Li Bingchang's joy was extraordinary, and his voice was so excited that he trembled a little.
Chapter completed!