Han Shizu

Chapter 2168: Emperor Shizong Chapter 44: Northern Desert Storm Khitan Destroys the Nation
While the empire's 100,000-strong army was taking pains to conquer Yunnan and Guizhou, a story of iron cavalry and golden swords was being played out in the vast northern border at the same time.

The threat from the northern desert was to the empire just like the threat posed by the northern nomadic civilization to the southern agricultural civilization thousands of years ago. However, in the Han Empire, the protagonist in this drama had become the Naiman Jin Kingdom in the north.

Since the eighth year of Pingkang, at the Baishui Conference, after being "bullied" by Emperor Kangzong and surrendering to Liu Wenpeng, and forcing peace with the Khitan in northern Mobei, the Jin Kingdom and the Taiyang Khan Liu Jin completely adjusted their strategy for national development, no longer going south to disturb the Han, and prioritizing the unification of northern Mobei.

Liu Jin's "three-step" strategy was actually the instinct of a grassland overlord, but whether it could succeed depended on the overall strategic environment. It would be difficult to implement when the Han Empire in the south was the only one standing out.

Not to mention too much else, just the first step of destroying the Khitan would be difficult to achieve under normal circumstances. The only glimmer of hope Liu Jin had was the unexpected early death of Emperor Kangzong, which led to a drastic change in the inheritance of the Han Empire.

Otherwise, if Liu Jin dared to break the agreement and move eastward, even Emperor Kangzong would not tolerate it. However, when Liu Wenji became the emperor of the empire, the constraints on the Mobei grassland were immediately greatly weakened.

Not to mention the three years of Duangong, Liu Wenji basically kept a low profile and was busy consolidating the throne and winning the hearts of the people. Even in the Jianlong era, in the first few years, his main energy was focused on reshaping imperial power and rectifying accumulated problems.

Although they also sent old ministers and generals such as Murong Dechen to Shanyang and Mobei to serve as governors, it was just a routine to maintain a facade. Of course, it is very important that Liu Wenji's Khitan ancestry has always been a weakness that people use to restrict, criticize, and even attack him, which also makes him often cautious and even afraid to act rashly when dealing with Mobei affairs.

After Liu Jin led the Jin Kingdom to rest for almost two years, he led his troops eastward in the autumn of the second year of Duangong and began to annex Khitan with all his strength. In the past half century, Naiman and Khitan were the two major overlords in Mobei, and the two rivals were generally in a state of one rising and the other falling.

The original Naiman were just a group of ignorant barbaric tribes roaming in the eastern part of Jinshan. It was only during the Han-Liao War that they were brought a touch of civilization by the expeditionary forces of the Han Empire. The tribal alliances that gradually formed later were all signs of evolution. The Naiman really began to rise after Liu Jin, who was revered as the "Sun Khan", came to power.

Although the imperial family never denied it and King Wei Liu Min never acknowledged it, Liu Jin's identity as "son of Liu Min" and the "royal blood" of the Han Empire flowing in his body played a major role in the establishment of the early Naiman tribal alliance, and were of great significance to the unification and integration of the Naiman tribes.

After Liu Jincheng came to power, he carried out many advanced institutional reforms on the Naiman, drawing a lot of experience and learning from Han culture and systems. In addition, driven by the competition with the Khitan in northern Mobei and internal and external forces, he gradually formed the Naiman Jin Kingdom, which occupied half of the northern Mobei, controlled hundreds of tribes, had a hundred thousand troops, was semi-nomadic, semi-slave, and was in transition to a feudal dynasty.

As for the Khitan in northern Mobei, although it maintained a military advantage over the Naiman for several decades, it was in a difficult military and political environment for a long time. It was squeezed by the Han Empire in the south and northeast, and invaded by the Mongols in the northeast.

With the departure of the older generation of Khitan elites, the newly emerged group of people can only be described as "one crab is worse than another". They can neither inherit the career and glory of their ancestors, nor even have the strength to guard the little land in front of them.

At the same time, although the Khitan were defeated by the Han Empire and transformed from the "Liao Empire" into the "Mobei Khitan", and subsequently degenerated into a nomadic state of production and life through self-castration (de-Sinicization, killing of Han ministers), they still maintained the arrogance of a "superior country" when facing the other tribes in Mobei, especially the vassal tribes of the mixed Hu.

With the late Kaibao period, Emperor Shizu's "tolerance" towards the Khitan, the improvement of bilateral relations, the strengthening of economic exchanges, and the fine wine, silk, and exquisite toys from the southern empire slowly corrupted the Khitan high-level officials.
Arrogance, corruption, and depravity were all fatal mistakes for nomadic peoples. However, when the oppression from the behemoth empire in the south lessened, they were able to support the rule of the Khitan in northern Mobei by relying on the accumulation of their ancestors and the fact that the Khitan King Yelu Longxu united the tribal threats of his subjects during his long reign.

However, as time went on, the problems and class contradictions of the Khitan in northern Mobei became increasingly serious, and this support became increasingly forced.

On the other hand, the Khitan in the northern desert not only faced external threats from the Naiman and Shiwei people, but also faced a serious population loss problem. In the south, the Shanyang desert south area under the management of the Han Empire was becoming increasingly prosperous, with developed animal husbandry, numerous cattle and sheep, and more fertile pastures, which was very attractive to many Khitan tribes in the northern desert. Some chose to harass and plunder, while others went south to submit.

The king of Raole Kingdom in the northeast, Liu Xin, has the blood of both the Han royal family and the Khitan royal family. Of course, for these nomadic peoples in the northern border, talking about blood is too abstract. The key lies in the psychological effect of admiring the strong and seeking profit.

Although the southern part of the desert was good, it was too close to the Han Empire, and there was no room for the northern tribes. Raole State was different. As one of the first countries designated by Emperor Shizu, from the perspective of the grassland tribes, its conditions were not bad. It had a large area of ​​fertile water, grass and land, which was very suitable for the development of animal husbandry.

Moreover, unlike Anton who suffered from suspicion of the imperial court, Rao Leguo always had a friendly and close relationship with the imperial court, and had long received overt and covert support and assistance from the imperial court.

In addition, Liu Xin's own qualities were not low. Although he did not have a great reputation and had not made any outstanding achievements, after years of experience in governing the country, he gradually explored and summarized a set of national governance rules that combined the Han legal system with local customs.

That year, Emperor Taizu passed away and all the kings went to Beijing to mourn. His good brother Liu Ye gave him some good advice, which he listened to and began a policy of continuously recruiting people from the Mobei region.

For the tribes in Mobei, they were willing to go there even just for the lower taxes and contributions of Raole Kingdom. Moreover, they could obtain pastures and water from the royal court of Xingguo (the royal city of Raole was named Xingguo, located in the southwest of present-day Qiqihar), and they could also get the protection of Raole Kingdom.

Since the early Yongxi period, the people of Mobei, which were under the jurisdiction of the Khitan, migrated eastward and southward and submitted to the Raole Kingdom. The Khitan of Mobei tried to stop this situation, which caused unrest for a time. It was not until Yelu Longxu summoned all the nobles and tribal leaders in the royal court and carried out a tax reduction mobilization to reduce the burden on the people, and established strict military control in the hilly areas on the western edge of the Greater Khingan Range fold belt, that the population loss to the Raole Kingdom was truly controlled.

But even so, the Raole Kingdom also took nearly 100,000 people from the Mobei Khitan, which greatly made up for the shortage of population and promoted the development of Raole. But the blood of the Mobei Khitan was almost drained over the long years.

By the Jianlong era, although the Khitan in northern Mobei was still a hegemon on the Mobei grasslands, it had become visibly declining and corrupt, especially when compared with the rise of the Naiman Jin Dynasty.

Due to many internal and external factors, when Liu Jin led his invading army eastward, the resistance of the Khitan in Mobei became increasingly weak. By the Mid-Autumn Festival of the third year of Jianlong, the Khitan in Mobei had fallen into a complete collapse, and the Khitan's rule over the vast grasslands and tribes in Mobei was completely overturned.

This "Liao-Jin War" lasted for four years. The fact that it could last so long was also due to the hard work of Yelu Longxu. However, a good cook cannot cook without rice, and Yelu Longxu in this time and space was not considered a good cook.

However, Yelu Longxu lived up to the dignity of the "Great Khitan King". Although the Jin army was strong and the Jin King Liu Jin was cunning, wise, brave and good at fighting, Yelu Longxu never gave in from beginning to end, and he always led the Khitan army firmly and resolutely to fight against them.

During the four years, the two sides fought dozens of battles in the lush grassy areas of Mobei, but only two battles played a crucial role. The first battle took place in the autumn of the first year of Jianlong. After Liu Jin defeated many tribes of the Khitans west of Wugu Mountain, he led 50,000 Jin forces eastward and fought against 80,000 Khitans in the upper reaches of the Tuwuci River (roughly in today's Ulaanbaatar).

Yelu Longxu led the battle himself, gathering the best troops in China and risking the fate of his country to defeat the Naiman in one battle. Yelu Longxu grew up in an extremely oppressive atmosphere of internal and external troubles. The Battle of Tuwuci River almost brought out all his heroic spirit and fierceness. When the decisive battle began, he even led the Pishi Army to charge.

Unfortunately, the Khitan army today has lost its courage and has become a commonplace army. As the Khitan king, although Yelu Longxu has mustered his strength, the effect is limited.

The Jin soldiers were different. Not only did they receive rigorous training, they were also subject to strict military laws by Liu Jin. They also possessed the spirit of a rising country, especially the 5,000 White Tiger Army (Liu Jin's iron guards, which gathered the most elite troops of the Jin Kingdom and were also a group of killing machines). Once they charged, they could often defeat the Khitan army without much effort.

Not counting the early tests and entanglements, the real decisive battle lasted less than a day and ended with the Khitan army's great defeat. Yelu Longxu led the remnants to flee eastward in a panic, and the Jin Kingdom took advantage of the situation to pursue eastward and took control of the central Mobei region.

After the Battle of Tuwuci River, Khitan was devastated and lost all its western borders. The Jin Dynasty won a complete victory and took the most solid step towards unifying the northern desert. However, in the next six months or so, Liu Jin did not choose to make a concerted effort to completely advance eastward and annex Khitan.

One reason was that the soldiers were exhausted after a long period of fighting. In the counterattack by the Khitan, there were also thousands of casualties. The newly conquered lands and tribes also needed to be reintegrated and trained and tied to the chariot of the Jin Dynasty.

Secondly, Liu Jin still needed to see how the Han Empire in the south would react. Although Liu Jin was arrogant and even conceited, he was still relatively cautious in his attitude towards the Han Empire. At least he knew in his heart that even for matters as far away as Mobei, the attitude of the Han Empire was equally crucial.

Liu Jin was quite satisfied with the reaction of the Han court. After all, the emperor Liu Wenji at the time was busy consolidating power and establishing authority, making drastic reforms to bad policies, and resolving relations with the major vassal states.

As for the northern desert, they only showed concern. Although they were surprised when they heard that the Khitan was defeated by the Naiman, they were far from feeling the threat of the Jin Kingdom. Of course, in the southern desert of Shanyang, some knowledgeable people were quite worried, and there were many who reported to the court to warn, but it did not attract enough attention. It was not that the emperor and his ministers were stupid, but there were priorities. Even Yelu Longxu's memorial to the court for help was ignored.

When the Han Empire did nothing, Liu Jin became bolder and in the summer of the second year of Jianlong, he again led his elite troops to the east. This time, 70,000 cavalrymen marched 2,000 miles and directly attacked Jingbian City (roughly in present-day Manzhouli) where the Khitan royal court was located.

In this battle, Liu Jin came with great momentum, intending to conquer the northern desert with one battle, but he failed in the end. He underestimated Yelu Longxu's persistence, fortified the city and cleared the fields, and defended the city. At the same time, although Jingbian City was not too large, it had been managed by the Khitan for many years and could not be broken by a cavalry. The cavalry of the Jin Kingdom lacked experience in facing a fortified city and was really helpless for a while.

Of course, the most crucial point is that the Raole Kingdom in the south can no longer sit still. Liu Xinke has been paying attention to the development of the war in Mobei. Seeing the decline of the Khitan and the monstrous ambitions of the Jin Kingdom, Liu Xin felt like a thorn in his side even though he was thousands of miles away.

Therefore, when Liu Jin was worried about the difficulty of conquering Jingbian City, Liu Xin, the King of Raole, sent 30,000 cavalry to the north to provide support. As soon as the Raole Kingdom sent troops, the crisis of the Khitan was relieved. In order to give them confidence, the Raole army also specially sent out death warriors to report the news of the reinforcements at the risk of their lives.

Of course, before the expedition, Liu Xin had specifically instructed that they only needed to go to rescue the enemy and not to fight to the death with the Kingdom of Jin. However, Liu Jin was not yet ready to fall out with Rao Le or the big man behind Rao Le.

The two sides had different strategic goals and were cautious, so naturally they did not fight. However, although there were no large-scale battles, there were still a few small-scale battles involving a few thousand people. As a result, although Rao Le's army was better equipped, it was actually weaker in momentum than the more crazy and barbaric Jin soldiers.

Although both were hunting troops, the Jin army was superior to the Raole Army, which was also suffering from the "peace disease", in actual combat power, as it was an army that had been at war for many years and had been subjected to strict military laws. There was no need to hide this fact.

However, as time went on, with the strong city in front and the "raobing" stabbing in the back, although the Jin army maintained a strong position and initiative, Liu Jin finally chose to withdraw his troops after besieging the city for two months.

Although the first attack on Jingbian City was unsuccessful, the Jin Kingdom did gain something. First, the Khitan's strength further shrank, and they could only survive around the Great Lake (Hulun Lake);

Secondly, the Jin soldiers' lack of siege power was exposed to Liu Jin in advance. After all, in previous battles, some small cities scattered in the northern desert often surrendered as soon as the army arrived, and the tribes on the grasslands did not have the habit of defending the city to the death.
Finally, after a battle with Rao Leguo, Liu Jin found that the Han army, although not weak, was not as strong as he imagined. After all, it was a group of troops that had not experienced a major war for decades, and even if they were well-equipped, they were not invincible. Although Rao Lebing could not fully represent the Han army, this revelation still greatly enhanced Liu Jin's confidence in the Han.

Only half a year after the first Jingbian War, Liu Jin led his army east again. This time, he was fully prepared, including for siege. The most important thing was that it was the third year of Jianlong, and Liu Xin, the King of Raole, was summoned to Tokyo by the Han Emperor Liu Wenji for a meeting.

It was precisely taking advantage of this "god-given opportunity" that Liu Jin acted decisively. After a preliminary battle that was as easy as drinking water, he once again surrounded Jingbian Town and decisively launched a strong attack.

Raole Kingdom, in the absence of the king, did not dare to rashly send troops to rescue. This time, Yelu Longxu failed to withstand the strong pressure. After 15 days, Jingbian City was broken and the defenders surrendered. Yelu Longxu committed suicide and died for his country, which also marked the end of the "Hundred Years of Khitan".

Of course, when the Khitan Kingdom was destroyed, Raole still reaped a lot of benefits. At least, in the last wave alone, more than 30,000 Khitan people carried cattle, sheep and horses and went south to submit to the Raole Kingdom. Population and livestock are always the most valuable assets.

However, when King Raole Liu Xin returned to Xingguo, he could not be happy at all facing this windfall, and even cursed inwardly, because looking north to the west side of Xing'an Mountains, the lush "Hulunbuir Grassland" had been completely swallowed up by Liu Jin.

The Naiman Jin Kingdom, a "castrated version" of the Mobei Dynasty, was rising. The war between the Jin Kingdom and the Raole Kingdom also began in the third year of Jianlong. However, the rise of a semi-unified Mobei regime, led by the wolf king Liu Jin, could not be stopped by the Raole Kingdom alone.

In the fourth, fifth, and seventh years of Jianlong, Liu Xin, the King of Raole, reported to the court the threat of the Jin Kingdom and hoped that the court would send troops to destroy it. However, he never received a positive response, and only received some military supplies to support Raole in dealing with the Jin Kingdom.

It was not until the eighth year of Jianlong, after Andong was suppressed, that the imperial court was able to free up its hands and turn its attention to Mobei. However, the Jin Kingdom at this time was already difficult to deal with.
(End of this chapter)