In the long history of China, the Dangxiang people were once a unique and legendary ethnic minority. Their story, like a magnificent epic, shows courage, wisdom and tenacity. Now, let's travel through time and space, go back to the era when gunpowder was full of smoke and heroes, and listen to the legendary story of the party hero Yuan Hao.
It is said that Li Jiqian, the aristocratic leader of the Dangxiang clan, although he was caught between the Song Dynasty and the Liao Dynasty, successfully maneuvered in this big game with amazing perseverance and wisdom. He was well aware of the importance of his relationship with the Song Dynasty, and through compromise and concession, he stabilized the Song Dynasty's seemingly powerful ally. However, his son Yuan Hao has greater ambitions and ambitions.
Yuan Hao, a young man who is familiar with Chinese language and Buddhism and has a profound cultural heritage. What he longed for was not only the prosperity of the Dangxiang clan, but also the hegemony of the entire northwest region. He led the army to defeat neighboring tribes on several occasions and expanded the sphere of influence of the Dangxiang clan. In his opinion, the Dangxiang clan should get rid of the shackles of the Song Dynasty, set up their own door, and create their own great cause.
However, his ambition was not understood by his father, Li Deming. Li Deming believed that the reason why they were able to live a life of fine clothes and food was all due to the gifts of the Song Dynasty, so he was unwilling to break with the Song Dynasty. But Yuan Hao said: "Heroes and heroes should create their own careers, how can they covet this benefit?"He firmly believed that only by getting rid of the control of the Song Dynasty could the Dangxiang clan become truly prosperous.
Eventually, after Yuan Hao inherited the title of King of Xiping, he began to reorganize his army according to his own ideas, preparing to get rid of the control of the Song Dynasty. His uncle Shan Yu advised him not to oppose the Song, but Yuan Hao did not listen. In desperation, Shanyu fled to the Song Dynasty, but was arrested by Yanzhou ** and returned to Yuan Hao. Yuan Hao knew that his intentions had been exposed, so he officially proclaimed himself emperor in 1038 AD, with the country name Daxia and the capital Xingqing.
After Yuan Hao ascended the throne, the above table demanded recognition from the Song Dynasty. However, at that time, Song Renzong had already succeeded to the throne, and he thought that this was Yuan Hao's anti-Song expression, so he ordered Yuan Hao to be cut off from the title of King Xiping, cut off ** contacts, and also offered a reward to arrest Yuan Hao at the border checkpoint. This angered Yuan Hao, and he decided to attack in a big way.
At that time, the Song army garrisoned three or four hundred thousand soldiers in the northwest, but the men and horses of each state were directly under the command of the imperial court and did not cooperate with each other. However, the cavalry of Western Xia was centralized and flexible, so the Song army often lost battles. However, after Fan Zhongyan arrived in Yanzhou, he carried out some reforms of the military system, which greatly increased the combat effectiveness of the Song army. The Western Xia soldiers saw that the Song army was well defended and did not dare to invade Yanzhou. They discussed: "Little Fan Laozi (referring to Fan Zhongyan) has tens of thousands of armor soldiers in his chest, but he is not as easy to bully as Big Fan Laozi (referring to Fan Yong)." ”
Fan Zhongyan analyzed the strength of the two sides and advocated strengthening the defense and containing the Western Xia forces. However, Han Qi advocated attacking. In February 1041, the Western Xia army, led by Yuan Hao himself, invaded Weizhou. Han Qi gathered all the horses and 18,000 warriors, led by Ren Fu to attack. Ren Fu led several thousand cavalry to chase the Western Xia soldiers, and came to Haoshuichuan (now Longdexi, Ningxia) for three days and three nights. It was already dark, and Ren Fu ordered to rest on the spot, planning to join up with another Song army that had been pre-agreed with Haoshuichuan early the next morning, and kill the enemy soldiers without leaving a single piece of armor.
The next day, Ren Fu and Song Jun marched west along the Haoshui River and came to the foot of Liupan Mountain, only to see silver clay boxes everywhere, and there was a beating sound inside. The soldiers stepped forward curiously, picked up the silver clay box and listened to it, only to see a few "poofs", and then more than a hundred pigeons with whistles flew out in a row, circling and flying over the heads of the Song army.
It turned out that the defeat of the small group of Western Xia soldiers was fake!At the foot of Liupan Mountain, Yuan Hao brought 100,000 elite soldiers to set up an ambush, and when the pigeon flew up, the Western Xia soldiers on all sides killed together and surrounded the Song army tightly. The Song army struggled to break through the siege, fighting from morning to noon, waving a large flag in the enemy formation, and a large number of Western Xia soldiers came out from both sides.
The Song soldiers fought and retreated, and many retreated to the cliff and fell to their deaths. Ren Fu was hit by more than ten arrows, and the soldiers persuaded Ren Fu to escape. Ren Fu said: "As a general, the only way to repay the country with death is when I am defeated. He rushed forward again, only to be assassinated by the Western Xia soldiers. In this battle, Yuan Hao won a great victory, and the Song army suffered heavy casualties. Han Qi was very sad when he heard the news, and wrote to the court to punish him. Song Renzong removed Han Qi from his post;Although Fan Zhongyan did not directly command the war, he was falsely accused and demoted.
After this war, there were many wars in Song and Xia, and the Song army lost soldiers one after another, and Song Renzong had to re-use Han Qi and Fan Zhongyan to defend the border. The two worked together, caressed the soldiers, and strictly disciplined the military, so that the Western Xia did not dare to attack again.
In the smoke of war, Yuan Hao's name gradually became known to the world. He is good at observation and thinking, and can often read through the enemy's mind and formulate the most appropriate strategy. His military prowess made the Western Xia army invincible on the battlefield, defeating the Song Dynasty army many times.
However, Yuan Hao was not satisfied with this. He understands that in order to truly achieve his ambitions, he must constantly learn and Xi and grow. Therefore, in his free time during the war, he always read military books and history books in his hands, constantly enriching his knowledge and insight.
Yuan Hao also paid great attention to the training and equipment of the army. He felt that only with a strong army and advanced equipment could he truly dominate one side. Therefore, he invested a lot of manpower and material resources to train the army and improve the combat effectiveness of the soldiers. At the same time, he also actively introduced advanced foreign technology and improved the best equipment, so that the Western Xia army was in a leading position in terms of equipment.
Under Yuan Hao's leadership, Western Xia gradually emerged as a powerful force in the northwest of the Song Dynasty. His name and his heroic deeds also spread throughout the Northwest and became a hero at the time.
Today, when we look back at Yuan Hao and his party clan in the long river of history, we cannot but be moved by their bravery and tenacity. Despite the difficult circumstances, they were still able to hold on to their beliefs and forge ahead, and finally created a world of their own. Their stories will forever be remembered in the history and inspire us to keep moving forward.
Follow me for more historical stories and information!
Autumn and Winter Check-in Challenge