I traveled with them to the Northern Song Dynasty

Chapter 175 The enemy is at the gates, king versus king
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When Xiao Sese tried to persuade Yelü Yanxi to actively discuss with his ministers how to defend against the attack from the Zhao Song Dynasty, Yelü Yanxi resolutely chose not to see Xiao Sese.

Soon, Xiao Sese's people planted around Yelü Yanxi learned that Xiao Fengxian was persuading Yelü Yanxi to hand her, the "culprit," over to Zhao Yu so that Zhao Yu could avenge himself and vent his anger, in exchange for peace talks between Liao and Song.

To Xiao Sese's utter disappointment and even heartbreak, Yelü Yanxi did not execute Xiao Fengxian, the treacherous minister who had framed loyal officials and was even suspected of cuckolding Yelü Yanxi, on the spot. On the contrary, Yelü Yanxi was persuaded by Xiao Fengxian and finally said only an ambiguous sentence: "The time has not yet come, how can we throw ourselves into chaos?"

Then, Yelü Yanxi and Xiao Fengxian went off to drink and have fun, completely forgetting the dire situation that was currently plaguing the Liao Kingdom.

Later, prioritizing the overall situation, Xiao Sese, despite being heavily pregnant, went to see Yelü Yanxi several more times.

But Yelü Yanxi chose not to see her at all.

Not only Xiao Sese, but Yelü Yanxi also chose not to see other loyal officials who came to see him, preferring to bury his head in the sand like an ostrich.

What chilled Xiao Sese and the loyal officials of Liao to the bone and even to the point of despair was that Yelü Yanxi was still planning to go hunting at Yuanyang Lake.

Seeing the Liao Dynasty's power waning and its internal turmoil, and with the powerful Song Dynasty attacking from the outside, Yelü Yanxi, instead of seeking to revitalize the state, ignored advice, covered up his mistakes, alienated loyal officials, and indulged in extravagance, reveling in wine, women, and hunting, neglecting state affairs. Deeply moved by the Liao Dynasty's internal and external troubles, he composed a satirical song:

"Do not lament the dark dust of the frontier, nor grieve for the many hardships and fear of the southerners; rather, block the path of wickedness and select virtuous ministers. We must endure hardship and humiliation to inspire brave men to sacrifice themselves; then we can clear the northern deserts in the morning and rest our heads on the clouds of Yan in the evening!"

Hearing from Xiao Fengxian that Xiao Sese had written a poem criticizing him, Yelü Yanxi's impression of Xiao Sese worsened. The warmth and respect he once had for her vanished like a thin mist blown away by the winter wind. An indescribable anger welled up in his heart, feeling that Xiao Sese not only didn't know what was good for her, but also dared to interfere in politics with her womanly views, which was utterly disrespectful.

Yelü Yanxi was incompetent and immoral. Not only did he ignore Xiao Sese's remonstrances, but he also harbored resentment and wanted to get rid of Xiao Sese.

Firstly, Xiao Sese's family is very powerful, and her family is good at binding with other Khitan aristocratic families through marriage. For example, Xiao Sese is the second among her sisters, her brother-in-law is Yelü Tage, a Khitan nobleman, and her younger sister is married to Yelü Yudu, the deputy commander of the Liao Kingdom.

Secondly, Xiao Sese had a very good reputation among the ministers, especially since Xiao Duoli and Xiao Guige were both sisters of the notorious traitor Xiao Fengxian and neither of them cared much about Yelü Yanxi, and Xiao Shigu was in poor health and also cared little about Yelü Yanxi.

Thirdly, Yelü Yanxi had only been on the throne for less than two years and had not yet accomplished anything, so his throne was not yet secure.

This made Yelü Yanxi somewhat hesitant to touch Xiao Sese.

Not only does Yelü Yanxi not dare to touch Xiao Sese, but he also has to rely on Xiao Sese to help him secure his throne.

In addition, Xiao Sese had already given birth to a son for Yelü Yanxi, and was now pregnant again.

Yelü Yanxi decided not to stoop to Xiao Sese's level for the time being.

In fact, many people didn't understand Yelü Yanxi at all. His arranging to go hunting at Yuanyang Lake was enough to show that he already had a preference.

That is, Yelü Yanxi wanted to escape from Yanjing City to avoid Zhao Yu's sharp edge.

However, those who held real power in the Liao Dynasty did not advise Yelü Yanxi in this direction at all.

Of course, there were also those who understood Yelü Yanxi's intentions but did not want him to choose to escape.

For example, Xiao Sese.

In the eyes of Xiao Sese and his group, if Yelü Yanxi were to escape at this critical juncture, the Liao Kingdom might be doomed.

Only Xiao Fengxian not only understood Yelü Yanxi's intentions, but also strongly supported Yelü Yanxi in retreating to Yuanyang Lake first, and then gradually making plans.

Under such circumstances, do you think Yelü Yanxi could not favor Xiao Fengxian?

However, the Xiao Fengxian of today is not the same Xiao Fengxian who held immense power and influence at the end of the Liao Dynasty in history.

Not only Xiao Fengxian, but even Yelü Yanxi was not the Tianzuo Emperor who firmly established himself on the throne at the end of the Liao Dynasty in history.

At this time, the Liao Dynasty still had some loyal ministers and generals, such as the Grand Marshal Yelü Heluwo, and important ministers such as Yelü Dabenu, Xiao Chaci, Wu Yong, Ma Renwang, and Chai Yi.

These people did not want Yelü Yanxi to escape. Some wanted to go out of the city to fight, while others wanted to defend the city; in short, they wanted to save the collapsing empire and stop the tide from turning.

Among them, Yelü and Luwo were the most troublesome.

He was the second son of Emperor Xingzong of Liao, Yelü Zongzhen, and the younger brother of Emperor Daozong of Liao, Yelü Hongji, who shared the same mother. His mother was Empress Renyi, Xiao Tali. Now he was the Imperial Uncle, concurrently serving as the Tiyin, and in charge of all the troops of the Liao Kingdom.

How could Yelü Yanxi dare to "disobey" such a person?
Not to mention Yelü Heluwo, even his son Yelü Chun held an extremely high position and prestige in the Liao Dynasty.

Back then, after Yelü Hongji's son, Crown Prince Zhaohuai, was convicted and killed, Yelü Hongji intended to make Yelü Chun, who was capable and prestigious, his successor to the throne. However, he later abandoned this idea and instead made Yelü Yanxi the emperor.

With Yelü Heluwo and others suppressing Yelü Yanxi, Yelü Yanxi at this stage really doesn't dare to make any rash moves, let alone take the initiative to mention escaping.

Yelü Yanxi, already intimidated by the Song army, simply did not have the courage to send troops out of the city to fight the Song army again, especially since Liao reinforcements had not yet arrived.

In fact, not only Yelü Yanxi, but also Yelü Heluwo and others were somewhat unsure about the true strength of the Song army.

Thus, the Liao Kingdom lost much of its time to proactively change the outcome because its ruler and his ministers could not reach a consensus.

At the same time, Zhao Yu issued an edict: leave 5,000 troops to Qiu Yu and Zhai Xing to garrison Yizhou; and leave 5,000 troops to Chen Gou and Zhai Jin to garrison Zhuozhou.

Zhao Yu issued another imperial edict:

I. Granting amnesty to newly recovered prefectures and counties. An amnesty is a pardon granted to criminals in one or several areas. Except for those who disobey imperial orders or plot rebellion, all other criminals, regardless of the severity of their crimes, shall be pardoned and released immediately. The prefectures and counties shall employ them according to their abilities and ensure that they are properly placed.

Second, abolish taxes and levies, that is, exempt all kinds of exorbitant taxes and levies in newly recovered prefectures and counties, and provide relief to the poor and hungry with government grain to prevent the people from being displaced.

Third, we must select and promote talented individuals. In the newly recovered prefectures and counties, we must identify and promote those talented people who are hidden among the people, those who have been recommended by their hometowns but have not been put to use, those who have offended or been ostracized by powerful people because of their loyalty and integrity, and officials who have been convicted of crimes due to mistakes.

Li Chuwen, the former prefect of Yizhou, and his family no longer wished to stay in Yizhou, so Zhao Yu moved his family to Bianliang City in Tokyo and bestowed upon them a mansion in Bianliang City.

Li Chuwen, Li Chuneng, and Li Kui, along with Zhao Liangsi, were all kept by Zhao Yu's side and employed. Zhao Liangsi, Li Chuwen, and Li Chuneng were very knowledgeable about the situation in Yanjing.

Therefore, when they held another meeting in Xiongzhou to discuss the advance on Yanjing, Zhao Yu allowed them to participate as well.

At the meeting, Zhao Liangsi took the initiative to tell Zhao Yu and others: "Yanjing City is divided into an outer city, an inner city, and a palace city. There are eight city gates in all four directions: Yingchun and Andong in the east, Xianxi and Qingjin in the west, Danfeng and Kaiyang in the south, and Tongtian and Gongchen in the north. The city has a network of streets, with two main roads running east-west and north-south. The city is divided into twenty-six wards, each with its own gate and walls."

Zhong Pu asked, "Where is the palace?"

Li Chuneng quickly answered, "The palace is located in the southwest corner. It is not large in scale, but the walls on all four sides are very sturdy and each has a gate."

Zhong Pu then asked, "How high is the city wall?"

Zhao Liangsi replied, "The city wall is three zhang high and one and a half zhang wide. It is very sturdy and easy to defend but difficult to attack."

Sun Lu asked, "How many people live in the city?"

Neither Zhao Liangsi nor Li Chuneng could answer this question.

At this point, Li Chuwen replied, "They number no less than 300,000. They live in clans, and the ethnic groups are very diverse. The majority are Han Chinese, but the most powerful are the Khitan and Xi."

Zhong Pu asked, "How many troops are there?"

Li Chuwen recounted the details with great familiarity: "There are forty to fifty thousand imperial guards, palace cavalry, and Iron Forest Army troops in the city. There are one hundred thousand troops outside the city, and more than one hundred thousand troops are scattered around Juyong Pass and other places. In addition, the Liao army that came to the aid of the king will also arrive in Yan territory one after another."

The Imperial Guard was the central imperial army of the Liao Dynasty, similar to Zhao Yu's Divine Machine Army. It was composed of elite soldiers selected from various ethnic groups throughout the country, serving as the Liao Dynasty's strategic mobile force. Its core consisted of the "Pi Shi Army" established by Emperor Taizong and the "Shu Shan Army" established by Empress Shulu, the wife of Emperor Taizu, who selected elite soldiers from both Han and non-Han ethnic groups. At its peak, the Pi Shi Army was enormous, numbering approximately 30,000; the Shu Shan Army numbered approximately 20,000.

The Palace Guard Cavalry, also known as the Ordo Army or Palace Branch Army, was the private palace guard force of the emperor and empress. It was a vital armed force protecting the emperor and upholding imperial power. Their duties included serving as bodyguards for the emperor and empress during peacetime, accompanying them on outings, guarding their tombs after their deaths, and responding to military calls in times of war. Throughout the Liao Dynasty, thirteen Palace Guard Cavalry units were established, totaling 101,000 men, averaging over 10,000 per dynasty.

The Iron Forest Army was a heavy cavalry force established by the Liao Dynasty, modeled after the Jingse Army of the Song Dynasty and the Iron Falcons of the Western Xia. Because the Liao Dynasty controlled the vast northern grasslands, it could readily select superior cavalry and warhorses, resulting in a higher quality of soldiers than the Jingse Army of the Song Dynasty, but slightly inferior to the Iron Falcons of the Western Xia. At its peak, the Iron Forest Army numbered around 10,000, becoming the elite of the Liao army, and achieving numerous victories on the Song-Liao battlefields, as well as in Liao's conquests of the grasslands and Liaodong.

However, this was the military strength of the Liao Dynasty at its peak. Now, many of them are practically defunct. Didn't you hear what Li Chuwen said? These elite troops combined only number forty to fifty thousand men.

Emperor Zhao Yu and his ministers were also aware of this to some extent.

Zhong Pu asked, "What is the Fourth Army?"

Li Chuwen replied, “The so-called Four Armies refers to a force composed of soldiers from four ethnic groups: Khitan, Xi, Bohai, and Han. This is the Liao Dynasty’s current elite army, and it is also an army personally commanded by Yelü Heluwo, the Grand Marshal of the Liao Dynasty. It is very powerful in combat, and it was this army that suppressed the rebellion in the northwest.”

Zhao Liangsi reminded Zhao Yu and his ministers: "The tribal armies are organized by tribes and are composed of the Khitan and various ethnic groups such as Xi, Bohai, Shiwei, and Jurchen who have submitted to the Liao Dynasty. They are important local armies for garrisoning and border defense and also have strong combat capabilities."

That's the real problem.

In fact, Yanjing City alone is not difficult to attack. The difficulty lies in the fact that all the passes in Yan are under the control of Liao, and Liao now has a large number of reinforcements.

The key point is that most of the Liao people were nomadic. Although many of them had been Sinicized, many of them still retained nomadic habits. They could fight on horseback, making them difficult to completely eradicate.

The most typical examples are the Jurchens, who will become the most powerful fighting force in history during this period, and the Mongols, who came a little over a hundred years later.

In other words, for the Song Dynasty to launch a war of annihilation against the Liao Dynasty, it wouldn't be as simple as winning a few battles. It would require the full strength of the nation, several years of fighting, proper strategies, and, most importantly, the complete collapse of the Liao Dynasty.

Emperor Zhao Yu and his ministers were very clear about this.

Having ascertained the enemy's situation, it is now up to Zhao Yu to make the decision on how to proceed with the next battle.

For this,

Some ministers suggested that since their purpose in coming here was only to delay the Liao army, and their strategic objectives had been largely achieved, they should stop here, use the defensive facilities in Yizhou and Zhuozhou as a new line of defense, continue to confront the Liao army, and buy time for Zhang Jie and his men to recover Western Xia.

Some ministers argued that Yizhou and Zhuozhou were also plains, and their inadequate defenses were insufficient to stop the Liao cavalry. Setting up a defensive line there would put the Song army at a disadvantage. They believed that even in a stalemate, the battle line should be pushed to the Lugou River and defended from there.

Some ministers argued that since the Lugou River was only thirty miles from Yanjing, it would be better to directly besiege the city than to push the battle line to the Lugou River, thus putting maximum psychological pressure on Yelü Yanxi and his ministers and preventing them from interfering with the Song Dynasty's efforts to recover Western Xia.

Some more radical ministers, seeing the Liao army's fighting strength as nothing special, and considering they had already advanced this far, capturing two of the seven prefectures of Yan, and that the Liao emperor Yelü Yanxi was incompetent and the Liao state was extremely weak, suggested they should simply exert their strength and recover the Yan region that the Han people had lost for over two hundred years. They even hoped to recover all sixteen prefectures of Yanyun plus the three prefectures of Pingluanying in one fell swoop.

In fact, there are many people who support this last point.

Not all the ministers here were blinded by victory. Some ministers calmly listed out a series of reasons for Zhao Yu, indicating that this was a golden opportunity for the Zhao Song Dynasty to recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun.

Zhao Yu also discussed this matter with Zhang Chun and Li Lin.

To Zhao Yu's surprise, Zhang Chun and Li Lin gave him different advice.

Zhang Chun advised Zhao Yu to adhere to the strategy of first recovering Western Xia, and not to be blinded by the current success, lest he impulsively create a two-front war. If that happened, the Song Dynasty's great advantage might be lost, and it might even fall into a passive position, missing the golden opportunity for unification.

Li Lin's suggestion was to concentrate forces to completely defeat the Liao army, recover the Yan territory, and even recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun, and then capture the three prefectures of Ping, Luan, and Ying. She believed that the Song army had such combat power.

If Zhang Chun and Li Lin couldn't reach an agreement, then the ministers of the Zhao Song Dynasty couldn't either.

Unsurprisingly, the ministers brought by Zhao Yu also had all sorts of opinions, and what's more, they all made a lot of sense.

Ultimately, it was Zhao Yu who had to make this difficult decision.

Unlike Yelü Yanxi, Zhao Yu naturally did not evade the problem or make decisions. After careful consideration, he issued an order: the army should continue to advance, clear all obstacles along the way, and aim to reach the gates of Yanjing.

"I want to meet Yelü Yanxi in person!"

……

(End of this chapter)