Lin'an Never Night

Chapter 880 Breaking and then standing up

"Ren Degong, what a rare guest!"

Ren Degong waited in the hall for a while before Tuoba Heiyi finally arrived.

Upon seeing Ren Degong, Tuoba Heiyi immediately made sarcastic remarks.

If it weren't for the Ren family's betrayal, the Great Xia might have been able to put up a fight against the Great Song.

At least, it wouldn't have been such a crushing defeat.

So it's no wonder that Tuoba Heiyi wouldn't have a good look when he sees the head of the Ren family.

Ren Degong was quite composed; he simply smiled faintly, showing no sign of offense.

Tuoba Heiyi swaggered into his seat, leaned back in his chair, and said arrogantly, "Speak, what brings you here?"

Ren Degong smiled faintly and said, "The Great Song Dynasty has broken its promise to the clans of Western Xia. I have come here specifically to find you, General Tuoba, to discuss a plan."

Tuoba Heiyi scoffed and said, "With the Prince of Yan as your backer, why do you need to consult me ​​about any rules?"

"The black-clad general and the large number of officials transferred here have left the people bewildered and many clans weakened. If this continues, we will all be doomed."

Ren Degong said, "General Tuoba, now is not the time for a fight of pride."

If we continue to fight, power will fall into the hands of others, and then we won't have anything left to fight for.

Tuoba Heiyi said, "So, what does your Ren family intend to do?"

“It’s not just our Ren family, but also the Wang family, the Li family, and the Wang family. We’ve already come up with an idea.”

Tuoba Heiyi opened his eyes wide: "Tell me about it."

Ren Degong chuckled and said, "General Tuoba, if you don't agree and leave this door, I won't acknowledge a single word I say next."

Tuoba Heiyi gave a cold laugh and remained silent.

Ren Degong's expression turned serious, and he said, word by word, "We intend to restore the Great Xia Kingdom!"

Tuoba Heiyi's eyes suddenly sharpened as he looked at Ren Degong.

Ren Degong remained calm and said, "Dali is in chaos, Sichuan is in chaos, and the Jin Kingdom has also caught its breath."

At this time, the restoration of our Western Xia dynasty is certainly very promising.

Tuoba Heiyi said coldly, "Can't you see that Yang Yuan is doing this because there are still a group of disobedient old ministers in the court?"

But these stubborn old folks hadn't done anything wrong, so they couldn't be punished without being taught a lesson. That's why Yang Yuan deliberately indulged them.

Since he intentionally condoned it, it means he has a backup plan and is confident he can clean up the mess.

"So what?"

Ren Degong remained very calm: "If we do not rebel, it means that the Song Dynasty's large-scale dispatch of officials is still within our tolerance range."

Therefore, even if Yang Yuan were to step forward and take charge again, he would still employ the system of appointing officials to govern our Western Xia region, and might even intensify it.

Tuoba Heiyi remained silent after hearing this.

Ren Degong said, "If things are hopeless, we can always surrender again, but we are surrendering to the Prince of Yan, not the Song Dynasty."

What forced us to rebel was the Song Dynasty's breach of the agreement made with the Prince of Yan.

In this way, our various clans can continue to safeguard our interests on this land.

Ren Degong stared into Tuoba Heiyi's eyes and said, word by word, "Continue to endure, only by enduring until you have nothing left!"

After pondering for a long time, Tuoba Heiyi nodded slightly: "I will give you an answer tomorrow."

"it is good!"

Ren Degong readily agreed, picked up the cup, drank the tea in one gulp, gently placed the cup back, and walked out without looking back.

Tuoba Heiyi sat alone for a long time before getting up and returning to the second hall.

Surprisingly, there were already people waiting in the second hall.

There were no fewer than six men in the second hall at this time, the youngest of whom was around thirty years old. They were the actual rulers of the various tribes of the Tuoba clan.

Among them was the old general Tuoba Hou.

Tuoba Hou said in a deep voice, "Black-clad man, what brings the old man from the Ren family here?"

Tuoba Heiyi said calmly, "It's the same thing you all came here to plot with me."

Tuoba Hei was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter: "Even Ren Degong can't stand the Song Dynasty's aggressive behavior?"

The others also wore expressions of joy.

One of them said, "If the Ren family is willing to join forces, then the restoration of our Great Xia will surely be possible."

Someone else said, "Gentlemen, don't forget the story of how the Ren family once ruled over my Tuoba royal family and acted arrogantly throughout Western Xia."

If we join forces with them, they'll probably just steal our profits again.

Tuoba Hou shook his head: "Some things should naturally be discussed now."

However, no matter how well we talk now, it's useless. In the end, it all comes down to who has the strongest strength.

If we raise an army now, it will be no less than rebuilding the country.

At most, the Ren family will regain power as prime minister; they will never be able to control everything as they once were.

When Tuoba Hou said this, everyone else nodded in agreement.

One of them said excitedly, "Black-clad, you had many concerns before, but now even the Ren family, who voluntarily pledged allegiance to the Song Dynasty, can no longer tolerate it. What do you say?"

Tuoba Heiyi said, "I agree to start the uprising..."

A loud bang suddenly erupted in the second hall, but everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and the sound merged into a wave of noise.

Tuoba Heiyi paused for a moment, then said, "But even though the Emperor is trapped in Song, he is still the Emperor of our Great Xia."

We can raise an army, but those in black will not accept the banner of worshipping me as their master.

Upon hearing this, Tuoba Hou immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

Li Renxiao wrote, "If I were to die in Song, I would pass the throne to the man in black," but he hasn't died yet.

Now, with Li Renxiao's blood-stained edict, there is a reason to unite the various tribes of the Tuoba clan, using Tuoba Heiyi as the bond. That's enough!

Immediately, everyone began discussing the details of the uprising.

In the Hetao Plain region, the Song Dynasty had almost no troops stationed there.

Yang Yuan's main strategy for this region was to achieve autonomy, and to balance the power between the old and new factions led by the Tuoba clan and the Ren clan.

Therefore, once they start an uprising, their greatest threat will be Liu Qi, whose troops are stationed in Gansu and Suzhou.

Fortunately, the situation in Sichuan and the Three Gorges is chaotic, so there is no need to worry about Song Dynasty reinforcements coming from the region for the time being.

In this way, at the beginning of their uprising, all they needed to do was withstand the attacks from Liu Qi.

The Hetao Plain comprised half of the Great Xia Kingdom's territory, and it was the richest and most powerful half.

With this calculation, the restoration of the kingdom indeed has a great chance.

In fact, the land area of ​​the so-called Great White Kingdom was almost the same as that of the Dali Kingdom.

However, two-thirds of the territory of the Great White Kingdom is desert.

Therefore, the actual usable land area of ​​the Great White Kingdom was only about one-third that of the Dali Kingdom.

However, in terms of military strength, Western Xia was second only to Jin and Song, and it could even challenge Song from time to time.

The armed forces left behind by the Great White Kingdom are now almost entirely concentrated on the Hetao Plain.

That's their source of confidence.

……

Three days later.

On a undulating, grassy slope on the outskirts of Xingqing Prefecture.

Poplar, elm, oleaster, willow...

The trees stretch across the loess ridges along the riverbank.

The trees are poplar and elm, which are common in Western Xia, interspersed with a small number of jujube and willow.

The woods were sparse, with several open areas covered in large patches of alfalfa.

Alfalfa is the best horse feed, and of course, it can also be eaten by humans.

Chop up some alfalfa, crack an egg into it, mix it into a filling, and use it to make dumplings or pancakes. It smells delicious!

However, it is now the height of summer, and the alfalfa flowers are in full bloom, covering the ground with pale purple alfalfa blossoms.

On the meadow beneath the trees, several mats were laid out, and Dong Jue, the prefect of Xingqing Prefecture, was taking his female relatives on an outing.

At the beginning of his tenure, he left his elderly wife behind to take care of his parents-in-law, and went to take office alone without bringing any concubines.

However, after only half a year in office, he had already taken three Qiang girls as concubines in Xingqing Prefecture.

It's almost early autumn, and while the Yangtze River basin is still extremely hot, the air here is already much fresher.

Prefect Cui was quite pleased and drank about half a jar of the fine wine he had brought.

Emboldened by alcohol, he pinned a beautiful concubine down on the mat and ripped open her clothes.

The girl let out a soft moan and gave up struggling, letting him do as he pleased.

It's so comfortable to be in a place where the emperor is far away and the world is so far away.

If he dared to do this in Jiangnan, he would probably have been reported for indecent behavior long ago.

Many people thought that this trip to Xixia Road would be a tough job, and he initially thought so too.

But now his thinking has completely changed.

Right now, those powerful local clans are still putting on airs and refusing to listen. Give him some more time, and once he has subdued these unruly natives, he will be the local emperor of this land.

Prefect Cui chuckled to himself as he tugged at the girl's clothes, intending to lie down under the open sky and have some fun.

But then he suddenly heard the rapid sound of horses' hooves, even faster than the heartbeat of the girl beneath him.

When he looked up in frustration, shading his eyes with his hand as he gazed into the distance, he saw dozens... no, at least hundreds of warhorses galloping towards him from afar.

To avoid suspicion, the yamen runners in his office had already walked away at a distance and were heading towards the cavalry.

The yamen runners spread their arms, trying to stop the uncooperative knights so as not to disturb the prefect's enjoyment.

Prefect Cui was just thinking with satisfaction, "This guy has a good eye."

The yamen runner's head flew into the air.

The gleaming saber in the knight's hand flashed a crimson light in the sunlight.

The knights charged forward, and anyone who blocked their path, or even those who fled in panic and ended up in their way, were swiftly and cleanly killed.

Prefect Cui let out a strange cry, and everything that was supposed to wither away withered away, except for his two legs, which seemed to have been suddenly given Dai Zong's speed-running talisman, and he ran incredibly fast.

But how can two legs outrun four?

A knight charged forward, using only a dragging saber technique, taking advantage of the momentum of his fast horse, and slashed the knight's neck with his sharp saber.

A perfectly good head flew up with the help of the momentum.

The knight thrust his blade with perfect accuracy, pinning the man's head to the blade.

On this day, all the tribes of Western Xia took action simultaneously.

A large number of officials from various prefectures and counties in the Hetao Plain were killed, leaving a trail of bloodshed.

They were a group of nobles who even demoted the soldiers who had helped expand the territory of the Song Dynasty to the status of "Red Elders" and showed them no respect whatsoever.

They wouldn't take the leaders of the Western Xia tribes, whom they considered wild and uncivilized, seriously.

But at this moment, in the eyes of these barbarians whom they despise, how are they any different from pigs and dogs?

On this day, the various tribes of Western Xia joined forces in rebellion.

(End of this chapter)