The Golden Family, rising from the Western Regions

Chapter 311 Peace is Paramount? The Tumultuous Times of Keyimen
Keyimen.

The Xia army occupied the narrow pass and relied on the steep mountain terrain to deploy a tight defense. Arrows and rolling stones were ready to be fired on both sides of the mountain road, firmly blocking the Northern Frontier Army north of Helan Mountain.

On the opposite side of the Gobi Desert, the endless military camps of the Northern Frontier stretch out in a continuous line.

Two kinds of battle flags, one red and the other yellow with white borders, fluttered in the wind, demonstrating the formidable power of the Northern Frontier Army.

During the ceasefire, a convoy slowly drove away from Keyimen Mountain Road and headed towards the Northern Frontier Camp.

This was the convoy of the Jin Dynasty delegation. The guards were all dressed in the black iron armor of Jin soldiers, with swords at their waists and solemn expressions.

Not long after they arrived in the Gobi Desert, a group of red-armored cavalry surrounded them, their long spears pointing diagonally, exuding a murderous aura.

"who?"

The commander of the Jin delegation reined in his horse and shouted loudly without changing his expression, "This is the special envoy of His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Jin Dynasty, Lord Yang Rusong, the Deputy Commander of Fengxiang Road."

"Quickly inform your superior in charge of the northern frontier to come and welcome us."

The Northern Frontier Scout Captain spurred his horse forward, glanced coldly at the carriage, and said in a deep voice, "We are here to welcome the Jin envoys on the orders of the Second Garrison Commander of the Northern Frontier and the General of Xizhou."

"please!"

Although the words were polite, they carried an undeniable firmness.

Subsequently, the delegation, "escorted" by scouts from the northern frontier, slowly made its way towards the main camp.

I thought I would be greeted by Li Dongjiang in person at the camp gate, but I didn't expect to see only a commander.

Moreover, the other party's attitude was extremely arrogant: "All members of the delegation shall dismount from their horses and carriages, hand over all weapons, and enter the camp on foot."

"Bastard!"

The guard commander flew into a rage and slammed his hand on the hilt of his sword: "My master is the Deputy Commander of Fengxiang Road of the Great Jin Kingdom. He has come on the orders of the Emperor. How dare you be so disrespectful?"

The commander at the camp gate's eyes sharpened, and the Northern Frontier soldiers behind him instantly gripped their spears tightly: "This is the rule of the Northern Frontier Army camp, and no one is exempt!"

The guard commander glared at the commander: "The deputy commander is of noble status. It is already a great favor that he has come to your Northern Frontier Army camp. How dare you treat him with such disrespect!"

"In the Northern Frontier Camp, there are only military rules, not hierarchy."

The commander of the camp gate refused to budge an inch: "Either follow the rules, or go back."

"Let alone a mere deputy chief steward, even if it were a prince of the Jin Kingdom as an envoy, my Northern Frontier has killed him before."

Two years ago, the Jin Dynasty wanted to subjugate the northern frontier, so it sent a prince from the imperial clan to the northern frontier. At that time, the northern frontier was fighting in the Hexi Corridor.

That guy had such a foul mouth that Li Xiao left him with his fat body, only sending his head back to the Jin Kingdom.

This matter was a source of great shame for the entire Jin state, and bringing it up only fueled the fury of the Jin leader.

The atmosphere was tense, with both sides poised to draw their swords at any moment.

Just then, a deep voice rang out from inside the carriage: "Enough, we are not here to fight. Let's keep things peaceful."

As soon as he finished speaking, the carriage curtain was lifted, and a man in his fifties stepped out.

He was thin and wore a dark blue round-necked, narrow-sleeved robe with a jade belt around his waist. The collar and cuffs were embroidered with dark gold patterns. He wore a turban with his feet spread out. Although not ostentatious, it exuded the majesty of an official.

This person was Yang Rusong, the deputy chief steward of Fengxiang Road in the Jin Kingdom.

Not long ago, news of the Northern Frontier Army's southward advance was sent to Zhongdu by express courier, shocking the Jin emperor and his officials.

They never expected that the war in the northern desert would end so quickly. Had Wang Khan and Temujin both been defeated and killed?

The Jin dynasty's rulers and ministers immediately realized the seriousness of the situation and decided that they had to intervene in the Xia dynasty's war and could not allow the Northern Frontier Army to get away with it.

Historically, when Temujin attacked the Western Xia, the Jin Dynasty stood by and watched, simply because in their eyes, Temujin was just an insignificant steppe chieftain who could not accomplish anything great.

Even if given ten years, it would not threaten the security of the Jin Dynasty, and might even follow the inertia of nomadic peoples to split again.

Therefore, the Jin Dynasty allowed the Western Xia to be attacked, and even hoped that the Western Xia and the Mongols would both suffer heavy losses.

However, the Northern Frontier was completely different. It originated from the Western Liao Dynasty and was once the suzerain state of the Jurchen tribes, as well as the ruler of the northern land of China.

From the perspective of the Jin people, the Mongols would at most plunder and leave, but the northern frontier was enough to threaten the Jin's rule over the Central Plains.

Moreover, the leaders of the northern frontier were not barbarians from the grasslands, but a group of genuine Han Chinese, which posed an even greater threat to the Jin Dynasty.

Therefore, the Jin dynasty's rulers and ministers made a decisive decision: they could not allow the Xia state to be destroyed in the north.

However, the Northern Frontier acted swiftly, and the Jin Dynasty had no time to dispatch troops. They could only send an envoy to buy time.

To save time, the imperial court didn't even have time to send an envoy from Zhongdu.

Instead, it was an urgent order that directly appointed Yang Rusong, the deputy chief administrator of Fengxiang Road, as the chief envoy.

After all, Fengxiang Road is located in the Chang'an area, very close to the Xingqing Prefecture of Western Xia.

Moreover, Chang'an was once the capital of the Tang Dynasty, and the General Administration Office established by the Jin Dynasty there was on par with the five capitals, including Zhongdu and Datong.

Sending a deputy chief steward would be sufficient.

Yang Rusong never expected that the Northern Frontier would show this deputy chief steward absolutely no respect.

"Don't even mention an envoy, even if the emperor of the Jin Kingdom came, he would have to get out of the carriage obediently," the commander of the camp gate, dressed in red armor, sneered.

Yang Rusong's face was flushed with anger. He glared at the commander and squeezed out two words through gritted teeth: "Hmph, arrogant."

"They are indeed barbarians from beyond the borders, possessing the name of China but lacking its essence."

He took a deep breath, suppressing his anger, and waved to the guards: "Do as they say."

Although the guards were unwilling, they had no choice but to obey orders. They dismounted, took off their swords and handed them to the soldiers of the northern frontier, their eyes filled with humiliation.

Yang Rusong straightened his official robes and strode into the camp.

Passing through the gate, the interior of the camp came into view.

It was mealtime, and many soldiers from the northern border region were sitting on the ground eating. The large, rough earthenware bowls were filled with clear millet porridge, with a few scattered beans occasionally visible, and not a speck of oil in sight.

The soldiers buried their heads in their bowls of porridge, working quickly as if afraid that if they were too slow, someone would snatch it away.

After finishing their meal, they were too lazy to clean up the dishes, so they simply lay down on the ground, covered their faces with their hats, and closed their eyes to rest.

The days of fighting had left them exhausted, and all they wanted to do was conserve their energy; they didn't even have the strength to say another word.

Beside the stables at the edge of the camp, a group of warhorses, emaciated from hunger with their ribs clearly visible, were weakly pawing at the ground, trying to find some grass roots to fill their stomachs.

The nearby wounded soldiers' camp was shrouded in gloom and despair.

The screams and groans of the wounded soldiers were incessant. Some of the more seriously injured soldiers could only lie on the ground, barely alive, staring blankly at the sky.

As Yang Rusong was watching, he suddenly heard a shout and the sound of whipping.

Looking in the direction of the sound, they saw two soldiers from the Northern Frontier Army, dressed in red armor, punching and kicking several grassland soldiers wearing tattered leather armor.

"Useless! I sent you to chop wood, and this is all you brought back? Are you trying to starve us to death?"

The grassland soldier was beaten and curled up on the ground, begging for mercy: "My lord, spare us! All the firewood on the mountain has been cut down, we really can't find any more..."

"Can't find it? I think you're just being lazy on purpose!"

Another soldier in red armor kicked at them, saying, "If you weren't still somewhat useful, I would have chopped you up and fed you to the dogs long ago!"

The grassland soldiers dared not speak out against their anger and could only silently endure the beatings.

Yang Rusong saw all of this, and a glint of shrewdness flashed in his eyes.

He thought to himself: It seems that there are quite a few internal conflicts in the Northern Frontier Army, and the food and supplies are also severely insufficient. This is an opportunity that can be taken advantage of.

He withdrew his gaze and followed the commander forward.

Soon, they entered a large tent.

Inside the tent, Li Dongjiang sat in the main seat with his shoulders bare and an air of nonchalance.

Hearing footsteps, he looked up and stared sharply at Yang Rusong, showing no politeness whatsoever.

"Are you Yang Rusong, the envoy from the Jin Dynasty?"

"Judging from your name, you should be a Han Chinese. Why are you serving as a dog for the Jurchen barbarians?"

These words were like a slap in the face, landing hard on Yang Rusong's cheek.

His face flushed red instantly, then turned ashen, and he said, barely suppressing his anger, "General Li, you are mistaken."

"I am an official of the Great Jin Kingdom, I eat the emperor's food and serve the emperor loyally, how can you say I am a dog?"

"Loyalty to the emperor?"

Li Dongjiang sneered: "You are loyal to the Jurchen Tartars who slaughter my Han sons and daughters and invade my homeland in the Central Plains."

"During the Jingkang Incident, the Han people suffered such humiliation. As a Han person, have you forgotten?"

Yang Rusong took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down: "Times have changed."

"Now that the Northern Frontier is at war with the Xia Kingdom, the people are suffering terribly. Our Great Jin Emperor is benevolent and cannot bear to see the people suffer. He has specially sent me to mediate and persuade General Li to withdraw his troops."

"retreat?"

Li Dongjiang's eyes flashed with a fierce light: "Xia Kingdom is my sworn enemy in the Northern Frontier. For many years, it has been fighting against my Northern Frontier and harming my people."

"Now that our army is at the city gates, it is the time to avenge our defeat. Why should we retreat?"

"General Li is mistaken."

Yang Rusong said, "Our Great Jin Kingdom and the Xia Kingdom are allies, and we will never sit idly by while the Xia Kingdom is bullied."

"General Li, are you sure you want to fight the Great Jin Kingdom to the death?"

"Until death?"

Li Dongjiang sneered: "You mean your Jin Kingdom?"

"I want to tell you that my Northern Frontier is not afraid of any war."

"As for your Jin Kingdom, you'd better take care of yourselves first."

"I heard that the Song Dynasty wants to launch a northern expedition to avenge the humiliation of the Jingkang Incident. Hahaha, as fellow Han Chinese, my northern frontier will definitely support the Song people."

Upon hearing this, Yang Rusong's expression changed, and he thought to himself, "Damn it, how did these people from the northern frontier know that the Song Dynasty was going to launch a northern expedition?"

The Northern Expedition of the Song Dynasty was no secret.

Preparations began two years ago, and the movement of troops and supplies was difficult to completely conceal.

Moreover, the Song court was a sieve; someone had already tipped off the Jin state.

Faced with the impending northern expedition of the Song Dynasty, the Jin Dynasty's rulers and ministers were on high alert.

Even the Jin emperor Wanyan Jing personally wrote a letter to the Song emperor, using a gentle tone and a very humble attitude, and offered to exempt the Song from paying tribute, so that the two countries could maintain lasting friendly relations.

Don't assume that the Song Dynasty was truly vulnerable. In fact, it always maintained a strong military deterrent against the Jin Dynasty and was the Jin Dynasty's number one major concern.

However, the Song Dynasty was unlucky, and there were always people within its ranks who dragged it down at crucial moments, which led to the repeated failures of its Northern Expeditions.

Therefore, the Jin Dynasty devoted considerable effort to dealing with the Song Dynasty's northern expedition.

Even if they were prepared to intervene militarily in the war between the northern border and the Western Xia, they could only send a small number of troops to show their stance.

They simply dare not deploy a large number of troops to the summer at this time.

Yang Rusong had thought he could keep the Song Dynasty's northern expedition a secret from the northern frontier and use the information gap to scare off the northern army, but he hadn't expected that the northern army would find out about it. This weighed heavily on Yang Rusong's mind. Had those Song people already made contact with the northern people?
However, he remained outwardly calm and said slowly, "General Li, the mere Song Kingdom is not worth mentioning."

“If you fight to the death with the Xia Kingdom, my Great Jin will definitely mobilize a large army to enter Xia, and in the end, it will only be your northern frontier that suffers.”

"However, the Emperor of the Great Jin Dynasty is benevolent and does not wish to see the people of Xia Kingdom suffer from the ravages of war again."

"We are willing to negotiate with the Xia Kingdom to get them to provide some gold, silver, and grain to compensate for the losses in the northern frontier."

"This would avoid unnecessary casualties and benefit northern Xinjiang, so why not do it?"

……

Not long after, Yang Rusong walked out of the tent and sighed helplessly.

Back at the central command tent in Keyimen, he informed Weiming Honglie and the Grand Chancellor, who had come on behalf of the Emperor, of the details of the negotiations.

"Would you only withdraw your troops if you offered one million strings of cash and one million bushels of grain?"

Upon hearing this, the hot-tempered Wei Minghonglie slammed his fist on the table and gritted his teeth, saying, "Why don't they just rob it?"

"That's just wishful thinking."

After these wars between Xia and the Northern Frontier, the country's strength had been depleted, and it became poorer with each battle.

Previously, Li Chunyou had used a knife to coerce officials and nobles into donating, and he had only managed to raise one million strings of copper coins.

Nowadays, people in northern Xinjiang ask for a million strings of cash without asking, which is outrageous. Aren't they afraid of biting off more than they can chew?

As for food supplies, after the Western Xia lost the Hexi Corridor, the population west of the Yellow River, including the Hehuang Valley, was almost entirely plundered.

In addition, the loss of over 100,000 able-bodied men in the Hexi Campaign led to a severe shortage of domestic labor and a significant drop in grain production.

If they could really produce a million shi of grain, why would Western Xia need to seek peace with the northern frontier?

This would prevent Wang Sicong from hastily retreating to Xingqing Prefecture; instead, he would seize Liangzhou in one fell swoop.

In summary, the Western Xia had neither money nor grain, and could not possibly meet the exorbitant demands of the northern frontier.

Yang Rusong shook his head helplessly: "I argued with Li Dongjiang for a long time, but he wouldn't budge an inch, sticking to the demand for one million strings of cash and one million bushels of grain."

He turned to look at Liang Sansi: "Lord Liang can testify to all of this."

After all, this matter concerned the fate of the Xia Kingdom, and it was impossible to entrust it entirely to the Jin Kingdom. Therefore, the Xia Kingdom dispatched Liang Sansi as its deputy envoy to participate in the negotiations throughout the process.

Liang Sansi frowned and said in a deep voice, "The people of the Northern Frontier are truly arrogant and hateful!"

"However, it seems that life isn't easy for the people of the Northern Frontier either."

Then, Liang Sansi recounted what he had seen and heard in the military camp in the northern border region.

The army in the northern border region lacked food and medicine, and there were deep conflicts and disharmony between the soldiers in the northern border region and the soldiers on the grasslands.

Upon learning of these events, Wei Minghonglie was slightly taken aback. His initial rage gradually subsided, and he fell into deep thought.

Soon after, the second batch of reinforcements from the Xia Kingdom arrived. Although most of them were still old and weak, their numbers totaled 80,000.

At this time, the Xia army forces gathered at Keyimen numbered nearly 150,000.

This gave Wei Minghonglie a lot of confidence.

On the other hand, the Northern Frontier Army launched fewer and fewer attacks.

Even during the attack on Keyimen, the soldiers' fighting strength was getting weaker and weaker.

Instead, even more soldiers went to fish in the Yellow River, but the Yellow River was turbulent, and the people of the northern frontier were not good at swimming, so the fish they caught were far from enough.

All of this gave Wei Minghonglie an illusion.

The opportunity to defeat the Northern Frontier Army and avenge the Great Xia and the Privy Councilor has arrived.

On this day, the Northern Frontier Army suddenly sent someone to deliver a message saying that they would agree to withdraw their troops if the army only wanted 800,000 shi of grain and 800,000 guan of cash.

Upon hearing the messenger's words, Wei Minghonglie refused without hesitation: "No."

In his view, the Northern Frontier Army's move was clearly a sign that their supplies were running out.

Two days later, the Northern Frontier Army sent people again, lowering the price to 500,000.

Wei Minghonglie remained unmoved.

The Northern Frontier Army kept lowering its asking price, from 300,000 to 100,000.

One morning, a scout rushed in to report that the Northern Frontier Army had broken camp and was retreating northward.

"Really?"

Upon receiving the news from the scouts, Wei Minghonglie suddenly stood up from his seat.

The scout replied confidently, "General, I saw it clearly. The Northern Frontier Army camp is completely empty, with only some abandoned tents and miscellaneous items left behind. It seems they have truly withdrawn."

Wei Minghonglie burst into laughter, all his previous hesitation and deliberation vanishing.

He concluded that the Northern Frontier Army had retreated hastily due to running out of supplies and internal conflicts, which presented a good opportunity to pursue and kill them.

"Give me the order!"

Wei Minghonglie drew his sword from his waist and pointed it north: "The army shall move out immediately and pursue the Northern Frontier Army."

"They must pay the price."

Soon, more than 20,000 cavalrymen had assembled outside Keyimen.

Among them, the thousand Iron Falcon heavy cavalrymen were particularly conspicuous. Each of them had three horses, and the other two warhorses each carried heavy armor on their backs.

Like a mobile iron fortress, it exudes an awe-inspiring aura.

Although the remaining cavalry were not as elite as the Iron Falcons, they were mostly in high spirits, holding spears or scimitars, ready to fight at any time.

After all, these were the young and strong elites selected from an army of hundreds of thousands.

"set off!"

At Wei Minghonglie's command, more than 20,000 cavalrymen surged out of Keyi Gate like a rolling torrent, rushing towards the direction in which the Northern Frontier Army was retreating.

The deafening sound of horses' hooves and the dust they kicked up blotted out the sky, leaving a long trail across the Gobi Desert.

The cavalry were extremely fast, and in no time they had chased them for dozens of miles, arriving at a vast Gobi Desert.

Just when they thought they could catch up with the Northern Frontier Army quickly, a sudden change occurred.

"Boom boom boom boom——"

A deafening roar suddenly exploded across the Gobi Desert, as if the earth itself had been torn apart.

Before the Xia cavalry could react, hundreds of dark iron balls, accompanied by sharp whistles, crashed into the dense ranks.

"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The iron ball exploded suddenly in mid-air or after landing, turning into countless iron nails, iron pieces and pebbles, which flew in all directions like flowers scattered by a fairy.

"Ahhhhh~"

The screams instantly echoed across the Gobi Desert.

Some warhorses had their bellies ripped open by pieces of iron, their intestines spilling out onto the ground, and they neighed in pain.

Some cavalrymen had iron nails pierce their chests, blood gushing out, and they died on the spot.

Others were hit on the head by falling rocks, their brains splattered, and they died a gruesome death.

After a volley of fire, the Xia cavalry was in complete chaos, with corpses of men and horses everywhere, and wounded soldiers writhing in agony on the ground – a truly gruesome scene.

"No, there's an ambush!"

Upon seeing this scene, Wei Minghonglie's heart sank, as if he had fallen into an ice cave.

His once confident gaze was instantly filled with terror, and a chill ran from his feet to the top of his head.

"Damn it, we've fallen for their trap..." he exclaimed in horror.

The previous confidence and excitement vanished, leaving only a deep-seated fear and regret.

He shouldn't have believed the illusion of the Northern Frontier Army's retreat, and he shouldn't have allowed 20,000 cavalrymen to charge into this desperate land without any precautions.

The next second, he heard his personal guard shout in alarm: "General, the Northern Frontier Army is coming!"

Just as everyone was in shock, a dark mass suddenly appeared on the horizon ahead and rapidly approached.

In the sunlight, one could clearly see countless red and yellow sun and moon battle flags fluttering in the shadows, exuding a chilling aura of impending doom.

The shadowy figure drew closer, and the outlines of cavalrymen became faintly visible.

Some wore red armor and carried long spears and crossbows, while others wore yellow armor and rode tall horses, looking menacing.

Countless others, dressed in nomadic attire, charged forward with roars of battle.

Wei Minghonglie's heart sank. He recognized that the yellow-armored cavalry were not only the Fourth Garrison Commander originally stationed in the Hexi Corridor, but also another, more elite force.

Pure yellow~
It was the First Garrison Army, personally led by Li Xiao, the Grand Protector of the Northern Frontier!
In an instant, a look of despair appeared on Wei Minghonglie's face.

It turned out that after arranging the prisoners of war in Wuluohai City, Li Xiao personally led his troops to Keyimen. This retreat and ambush were all a well-orchestrated play by him.

"Form a battle array to meet the enemy."

Wei Minghong roared loudly, still trying to make a final struggle.

The Xia cavalry hurriedly adjusted their formation, with light cavalry in front, giving Iron Falcons time to don their armor.

However, the Northern Frontier Army's attack was extremely fierce.

"Boom boom boom~"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa~"

Amidst the roar of cannons, countless arrows shot in from afar.

It was the Divine Arm Crossbow from the Northern Frontier Army.

In terms of scale and power, they were even more numerous and stronger than the divine crossbows equipped by Wei Minghonglie's cavalry.

"Ahhh~"

Arrows rained down on the Xia cavalry, striking many riders who fell from their horses, their screams echoing throughout the ranks.

Soon, the Northern Frontier Army arrived.

Leading the charge were naturally the heavy cavalry in black armor.

Although the Iron Falcon heavy cavalry were brave, they were outnumbered by the Black Armor Army and had already suffered heavy losses in an artillery attack, so they soon fell into a disadvantageous position.

The other cavalry units of the Northern Frontier Army coordinated well, sometimes firing in scattered formations and sometimes charging in concentrated attacks, disrupting the Xia Kingdom cavalry's formation.

Looking at the scene before him, Wei Minghonglie was filled with remorse. He had never expected that the Northern Frontier Army would set up such a meticulous ambush.

But with things having come to this, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and give the order: "Charge out! Break through the encirclement of the Northern Frontier Army!"

Unfortunately, his command flag was too conspicuous, and several northern cavalry units were closing in on him.

(End of this chapter)