Xianxia version of Water Margin

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Facing the oppression of the Yuan Empire, the major tribes on the grasslands - Qiyan, Tatar, Merkit, Kerey, Naiman, Taichiwu, Balahu, Khorituma, Kyrgyz, Oyishi, etc., formed an alliance under the call of the Mongol King Kublai.

They not only resolved the grievances accumulated over generations, but also worked together to formulate the "Great Mongolian Covenant", vowing to join forces to resist the invasion of the Yuan cavalry.

The grassland coalition forces, which were not used to being passively beaten and unwilling to sit and wait for death, carefully planned a proactive strategy based on their unparalleled mobility.

The target was the left wing of the central route of the Yuan army, that is, the 50,000 elite troops led by Zhu Wu and Wang De.

However, this battle that seemed to be a sure win ended in a tragic defeat for the grassland coalition forces.

Facing the Yuan army equipped with thunder chariots and red cannons, the traditional bow and horse seemed powerless.

For the first time, the grassland warriors tasted the bitterness of the technological gap.

The continuous defeats did not make the grassland allied forces give up resistance. They continued to look for opportunities to counterattack, but every charge was like hitting a copper wall.

This was not because the bravery of the grassland warriors was no longer there, but because the times had quietly changed.

The Yuan Empire not only had powerful cavalry, but also had many advanced weapons, which made the grassland's bow and horsemanship seem incapable.

Against this background, Yue Fei and Jiang Hongfei, two wise men, proposed completely different strategic concepts. They abandoned the long-distance raids of Huo Qubing and adopted a more stable carpet-style advancement.

This strategy aims to gradually compress the living space of the grassland tribes and ultimately achieve the goal of completely controlling the grassland and even further areas.

Jiang Hongfei was even more far-sighted. He planned a railway blueprint from Yanjing directly to Khatun City, and planned several cities in the middle, intending to closely connect this vast grassland with the Central Plains and make the territory of the Yuan Empire more stable.

Jiang Hongfei knew that this battle was not only a military contest, but also a struggle for the future fate of the grassland.

The Yuan Empire not only had to win on the battlefield, but also had to take root deep in the grassland and establish a solid foundation for rule.

Therefore, the Yuan army advanced step by step, while mobilizing millions of civilians to build railways.

This was not only a conquest of the grassland, but also a far-reaching layout for the future.

Jiang Hongfei's railway plan not only connected the grassland with the Central Plains, but also foreshadowed the Yuan Empire's covetousness for the Far East and Siberia.

Jiang Hongfei knew that only by mastering this resource-rich land could the Yuan Empire truly realize its grand ambition to move north.

And Khatun City would become an important fulcrum in this journey, a frontier position for the Yuan Empire to conquer the Far East and Siberia, carrying the Yuan Empire's dream and hope of conquering the distant.

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In the 19th year of Hongwu, when the autumn breeze was refreshing, the Yuan army in the northeastern war zone set off a storm in the depths of the grassland. With their indomitable momentum, they completely defeated the Tatar tribe, which had long been an enemy of the Yuan Empire and was known as the "grassland looters".

In this bloody battle, the Khitans, Koreans, Japanese, and Wanggu tribes, who had surrendered to the Yuan Empire, killed hundreds of thousands of Tatar men together, almost pushing this tribe, which once had 70,000 households at its peak, to the brink of extinction.

Faced with such a brilliant victory, Jiang Hongfei showed his profound strategic vision and extraordinary ruling skills.

He issued an edict to reward the women of the Tatar tribe to those soldiers who had made great achievements on the battlefield, regardless of whether they were Han people or children of the grassland.

This move not only greatly inspired morale, but also caused a strong shock among the grassland tribes. Many tribes began to re-examine their relationship with the Yuan Empire.

At the same time, the grassland coalition forces were repeatedly defeated in the battle with the Yuan army, and their morale was low. Many tribes chose to leave the Great Mongolian Alliance, and the cornerstone of this alliance began to shake and eventually disintegrated.

Driven by this trend, more and more grassland tribes chose to surrender to the powerful and rich Yuan Empire, accept the reorganization and resettlement of the empire, and agree to move to the hinterland of the empire or the distant Prince Continent.

However, most of the surrenderers in the early stage were small tribes, and the large tribes still waited and continued to resist.

Until Wu Jie defeated the Naiman tribe on the battlefield and Zhu Wu successfully defeated the Kerey tribe, two of the five major tribal groups on the grassland had chosen to surrender to the Yuan Dynasty, and this change became a turning point.

Subsequently, more tribes, including some large tribes, also declared their allegiance to the Yuan Empire and accepted its rule and arrangements.

By the end of September in the 19th year of Hongwu, the coalition forces of the Merkit tribe and the Taichiwu tribe also collapsed under the iron hoof of the Northeast Coalition Army, and another powerful group on the grassland fell.

At this time, the last tough bone on the grassland, the Qiyan tribe (the core of the Mengwu Kingdom) located north of the Xiping River, was also surrounded by the Yuan army.

The leader of the Qiyan tribe, Hebule, was unwilling to surrender and personally led 80,000 elite warriors to attempt a final decisive battle with the Yuan army.

However, in front of the powerful Yuan army, his courage seemed so pale and powerless.

In the end, Hebule was not only defeated, but also captured alive by Gao Chong, the first master of the younger generation of the Yuan Empire, and Yang Zaixing, the second master.

With the fall of the king's tent, the royal court of the Mengwu Kingdom also fell into the hands of the Yuan army.

At the end of this battle, Zhang Jun and other generals found Hebule's grandson, Borjigin Yesugei, who was only four years old, during a detailed search.

The fate of this little boy has caused widespread speculation, especially when Jiang Hongfei personally ordered him to be castrated and included in the ranks of eunuchs, which made it even more difficult to understand the emperor's intentions.

But Jiang Hongfei's decisions are always unfathomable. The more mysterious he is, the more awe-inspiring he is.

Even more surprising is that not long after, Jiang Hongfei sent an envoy to the eastern part of the Mongolian Plateau to find a little girl named "Olehun Hoelun".

The girl was only one year old and was a member of the Olehun Uti clan of the Hongjila tribe.

The people sent by Jiang Hongfei successfully found her and sent her to the capital together with her clansmen.

Jiang Hongfei showed unprecedented caution and determination in arranging the two children and their clansmen.

He castrated all the boys as eunuchs and included all the girls in the harem, and arranged for their clansmen to be placed in different corners of the empire to ensure that they could never reunite.

It's no wonder that Jiang Hongfei was so cautious. It's true that a person's name is like a tree's shadow.

No one knows Temujin's horror better than Jiang Hongfei.

Therefore, Jiang Hongfei would never leave a great enemy like Temujin to his descendants.

Later, the entire Hebula clan died inexplicably in a plague, and all the girls of marriageable age from the Olehun Uti clan of the Hongjila tribe were taken into Jiang Hongfei's harem.

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When the Mongolian tribes in the southern steppes were conquered one by one, the iron hoof of the Yuan Empire seemed unstoppable.

However, the weather was not always good, and in order to ensure the smooth flow of military supplies, Jiang Hongfei decided to lay a railway of more than 700 kilometers in the vast Gobi Desert. This huge project temporarily put the further conquest of the northern steppes on hold.

The military suspension did not slow down the Yuan Dynasty's pace in the diplomatic field.

The Yuan Empire sent envoys to frequently shuttle between the grasslands, and even went deep into the hinterland of the northern steppes, lobbying the grassland tribes to surrender with a soft strategy, and promised to split and migrate arrangements.

Under this strategy of diplomacy and military advancement, many tribes that were originally scattered in the northern desert, such as Dahuangshiwei, Dila, Wangjila, Chachila, Yexi, Bigude, etc., responded to the call of the Yuan Dynasty. Some tribes have even clearly expressed their willingness to become its vassal and accept its arrangements.

This series of successes is not only due to the strength and irresistibility of the Yuan Empire, but also because these tribes have lost unified leadership and are like a pile of loose sand, making it difficult to form an effective resistance.

Looking back on the past, Jiang Hongfei occupied Yanjing with thunder and forced Xiao Puxian to lead the remnants of the Northern Liao to surrender and take her as a concubine, announcing the end of the Northern Liao.

Subsequently, Yelu Yanxi was captured, and the Liao Empire seemed to disappear.

However, the truth of history is far more complicated than it seems.

Even under the rule of Jiang Hongfei, many Liao people who were loyal to the Liao Dynasty chose to flee, looking for the whereabouts of Yelu Yanxi and attempting to restore their country.

And when the entire family of Yelu Yanxi was captured, one person miraculously escaped.

This person was Liang Wang Yelu Yali, who led hundreds of Liao soldiers at the time, and explored the way for Yelu Yanxi in advance, and finally escaped the disaster fortunately.

Under the protection of loyal ministers such as Temu Ge, Yelu Yali and his party crossed many obstacles and arrived at Yinshan.

There, they unexpectedly met Yelu Dilie, an old subordinate of Yelu Yanxi.

Yelu Dilie had urged Yelu Yanxi not to cross the Yellow River. After witnessing the emperor's stubbornness and failure, he fled to Yinshan with more than a thousand people.

The confluence of the two forces ignited the spark of hope for the revival of Northern Liao.

In Dashaling, Yelu Yali was supported as emperor, inherited the Northern Liao imperial lineage, changed the reign to Shenli, and opened the short road to the revival of Northern Liao.

Yelu Yali was completely different from his father Yelu Yanxi. He was kind-hearted and hated killing. Even when dealing with fugitives, he only punished them with bamboo boards and rattan.

For those tribes willing to submit to the Northern Liao, he generously granted official positions, showing his extraordinary mind and magnanimity.

Yelu Yali often said: "Those who are willing to submit to the Great Liao will not be rejected; those who are unwilling will not be forced."

This statement won the respect and trust of many tribes.

Under the governance of Yelu Yali, the Liao Dynasty seemed to have ushered in a moment of revival.

Generals such as Tabuye, the commander of the Dielie tribe, Tulibu, the governor of the Ugu tribe, and the Jiedushi of the Ugu tribe led their troops to submit, which gradually restored the strength of the Northern Liao.

However, the good times did not last long, and the weaknesses in Yelu Yali's character were gradually exposed.

He became increasingly addicted to entertainment activities such as playing football and hunting, and gradually became tired of the affairs of the court.

Although loyal ministers such as Temuge repeatedly advised him to awaken his desire to govern the country, Yelu Yali could not get rid of the stupid genes left to him by Yelu Yanxi.

In governing the country, Yelu Yali seemed particularly immature and unrealistic.

When he was on tour, he rewarded his followers generously when he saw that they were tired, completely ignoring the emptiness of the national finances.

When the salt and corn transported by the herdsmen were stolen, he rashly set an absurd compensation standard - only one sheep was compensated for each cart of corn stolen.

Such a decision was undoubtedly an indulgence and encouragement to bandits, making the food crisis of Northern Liao even worse.

The people began to steal official grain blatantly, but Yelu Yali refused to crack down on it on the grounds that "what the people have is mine."

His kindness and tolerance at this moment became the catalyst for the demise of Northern Liao.

As time went on, Yelu Yali's rule became increasingly incapable.

He could neither revitalize the national economy nor quell internal conflicts and disputes.

The dream of the Liao Dynasty's revival eventually turned into a bubble.

The root of all this is that Yelu Yali has a fatal flaw in that he lacks the talent to govern the country despite his generous character.

He may be a benevolent monarch, but he cannot be a wise leader.

However, the wheel of history will not stop because of personal will.

Yelu Yali's blood flows with Yelu Yanxi's endless love for hunting. This inheritance burns his soul like a raging fire, making him unable to settle for the status quo.

Finally, he could no longer bear this inner restlessness, and resolutely embarked on the journey to Chashi Mountain and threw himself into the vast hunting ground.

In one day, he relied on his extraordinary hunting skills to capture forty vigorous yellow sheep and twenty-one cunning wolves. His heroic appearance was like the reincarnation of Yelu Yanxi.

However, excessive physical exertion quietly buried hidden dangers. Not long after, Yelu Yali died suddenly due to overwork at the age of 30.

Yelu Yali's death was like the calm before the storm. Soon, Yelu Dilie, Temu Ge and other powerful officials jointly recommended Yelu Shulie, the great-grandson of Liao Xingzong, to the throne.

At this time, Wanyan Zonghan's iron hoof had just evacuated Khatun City, leaving a mess.

Yelu Shulie and his party, with a faint hope for the revival of the Liao Dynasty, embarked on the journey to Khatun City.

And in the Mobei grassland, under the ravages of Wanyan Zonghan, the tribes were leaderless and surrendered to the new emperor one after another. The flag of the Northern Liao once again flew over the grassland.

The Northern Liao moved its capital to Mobei, relying on the natural barrier of the Gobi Desert, temporarily got rid of the threats of the Yuan Empire and the Jin Dynasty, and ushered in a seemingly peaceful development opportunity.

However, Yelu Shulie was not a man of great talent and vision. He was addicted to sensual pleasures and had no interest in reviving the Liao Dynasty. He only knew how to hunt and enjoy himself every day, just like Yelu Yanxi's excessive debauchery.

Faced with the surrender of the Yuan Empire (including the will of Yelu Yanxi's old subordinates and Xiao Puxian's daughter), he turned a deaf ear and continued to indulge in his own world.

The people of Northern Liao gradually lost patience and confidence in this incompetent monarch.

Finally, a sudden mutiny broke out in Khatun City. Yelu Shulie and Yelu Dilie died in the chaos, and Temuge was disheartened and did not care about worldly affairs.

This mutiny was originally caused by anger at Yelu Shulie's inaction, but it unexpectedly led to the destruction of Northern Liao, and Mobei fell into a state of fragmentation again.

The once glorious Liao Empire, whose territory spanned from the Sea of ​​Japan to the Altai Mountains, from the Ergun River in the north to the Baigou River in the south, has now become a thing of the past.

The five major tribes on the Mongolian Plateau were either annihilated or severely damaged by the Yuan Empire, while those small tribes wisely chose to surrender to the powerful Yuan Empire in order to protect themselves.

In the spring of the 20th year of Hongwu, the iron cavalry of the Yuan Empire crossed the Gobi Desert and penetrated deep into the northern desert.

With the assistance of many small tribes, they swept across the grassland with great momentum.

Many tribes either voluntarily surrendered or were forced to accept the rule and migration of the Yuan Dynasty.

Those tribes that were unwilling to succumb to the Yuan Dynasty chose the more difficult road to the north. They crossed the North Sea and entered Siberia, competing for living space with Kievan Rus.

Generals such as Yue Fei, Wu Jie, Wang Bin, and Zhu Wu led the elite troops of the Yuan Dynasty and pursued all the way to the shore of the North Sea, setting up a stone tablet to commemorate this battle.

Afterwards, they returned to Khatun City, climbed Mount Langjuxu again, built an altar to offer sacrifices to the heavens, and announced the Yuan Empire's complete conquest of the northern grasslands.

At this point, the Hu troubles that had plagued the Central Plains dynasty for thousands of years were finally quelled.

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