Li Deming's son Hao Yuan is an ambitious man. He is proficient in Chinese and Buddhism, and has led troops to defeat Tubo, Uighur and other tribes many times to expand his territory. He persuaded Deming not to submit to the Song Dynasty. Deming didn't want to break with the Song Dynasty. He said to his son, "We can wear brocade for 30 years, which is a gift of the Song Dynasty. Betraying them is not good! "
Hao Yuan said, "It is the custom of our party to wear fur and drive away cattle and sheep. Heroes should start their own businesses, how can they covet this benefit? "
Dai Mingshuo: "What do you say?"
Hao Yuan said, "The reward we get is only for ourselves, but the people in the tribe are still very poor. In my opinion, it is better to refuse to pay tribute and train military forces. The small ones can plunder, and the big ones can seize the land and make everyone rich. Wouldn't it be better? "
However, Li Deming still refused to accept his proposal. Until Deming died, Yuan Hao inherited the title of Xiping King. Just according to their own ideas, set up official positions, rectify the army, and prepare to get rid of the control of the Song Dynasty and be independent.
His uncle Shan Yu advised Yuan Hao not to oppose the Song Dynasty, but Yuan Hao wouldn't listen. Shan Yu fled to Song Dynasty, and officials in Yanzhou in Song Dynasty were afraid of offending Yuan Hao, so they arrested Shan Yu and sent him back. Knowing that his intention had been exposed, Yuan Hao officially declared himself emperor in A.D. 1038, with the title of "Daxia" and its capital Xingqing (now Yinchuan City, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region). Because it was in the northwest of the Song Dynasty, it was called Xixia in history.
After Yuan Hao acceded to the throne, the above table was requested to be recognized by the Song Dynasty. At that time, Song Zhenzong had died and his son Song Renzong Zhao Zhen was in office. In the Song Dynasty, the monarch and his subjects discussed it for a while, thinking that this was Yuan Hao's anti-Song performance, and ordered him to be deprived of his title of Xiping, cut off trade, and offer a reward at the border checkpoint to capture Yuan Hao. This angered Hao Yuan, who decided to attack on a large scale.
At that time, Song Jun had 300,000 to 400,000 soldiers stationed in the northwest, but these soldiers were scattered in hundreds of fortresses in 24 States, and the troops in each state were under the direct command of the imperial court and did not cooperate with each other. In addition, there has been no war in Song Jun for a long time, and the soldiers lack training. Xixia cavalry is centralized and flexible, so Song Jun is often defeated.
A year later, the Xixia army attacked Yanzhou, and Song Jun suffered another crushing defeat. Song Renzong was very angry, so he fired Fan Yong, the magistrate of Yanzhou, and sent other ministers Han Qi and Fan Zhongyan to Shaanxi to direct the war against Xixia.
Fan Zhongyan went to Yanzhou and reformed the military system on the border. He divided the 16,000 troops in Yanzhou into six roads, led by six generals, and practiced day and night, thus improving the fighting capacity of Song Jun, which was originally very loose.
Seeing that Song Jun was well defended, Xixia soldiers dared not invade Yanzhou. They said, "Fan Xiao Lao Tzu (referring to Fan Zhongyan) has tens of thousands of armour soldiers in his chest, but he is not as easy to bully as Da Fan Lao Tzu (referring to Fan Yong)."
Fan Zhongyan analyzed the forces of both sides and advocated strengthening defense and containing Xixia forces, but Han Qi advocated attacking.
In February of A.D. 104 1, the Xixia Army led by Yuan Hao invaded Weizhou. Han Qi concentrated all his forces and chose eighteen thousand warriors, led by Ren Fu.
Renfu took thousands of cavalry for a while, and saw Xixia soldiers for a while. The two sides fought for a while, and Xixia soldiers left their horses and camels and fled. Ren Fu sent a scout, and when he heard that there were not many enemy soldiers ahead, he followed closely. After three days and three nights, I came to Haoshuichuan (now Longdexi, Ningxia), and it was already dark. Ren Fu ordered the soldiers to rest on the spot, and planned to wait for a Song Jun stationed in Shuichuan to kill the enemy soldiers the next morning.
The next day, Ren Fu took Song Jun along the good water to western Sichuan and reached the foot of Liupan Mountain. No Xixia soldiers were found. I saw some silver clay boxes on the roadside, which were tightly sealed. The soldiers stepped forward, picked up the silver clay box and listened to them. There is a knocking sound inside. The soldier reported to Ren Fu, who told the soldier to open the box. Only heard "poop-poop" a few times, more than one hundred pigeons with whistles flew out one by one, hovering over Song Jun's head.
It turned out that the retreat of a small group of Xixia soldiers was fake. At the foot of Liupanshan Mountain, Yuan Hao laid an ambush with 100,000 chosen men. As soon as the dove flew, Xixia soldiers from all directions began to work together and surrounded Song Jun tightly. Song Jun struggled to break through. From morning till noon, a flag fluttered on the enemy's front. A large number of Xixia soldiers fought from both sides. Song Bing fought and retreated, and many people retreated to the cliff and fell dead.
Ren Fu was shot more than a dozen arrows, and the soldiers advised Ren Fu to escape. Ren Fu said: "As a general, I am defeated now. I must die to serve my country." He rushed up again and was assassinated by Xixia soldiers.
In this battle, Yuan Hao won a great victory and Song Jun suffered heavy casualties. Han Qi was very sad after hearing the news. He wrote to the court, demanding punishment, and Song Renzong dismissed Han Qi. Although Fan Zhongyan did not directly direct the war, he was falsely accused of demotion.
Since then, there have been many wars in Song and Xia Dynasties, and Song Jun suffered heavy losses. Song Renzong had to reuse Han Qi and Fan Zhongyan to guard the border. Qi Xin, the two men, worked together to care for the foot soldiers and exercised serious military discipline. Xixia dared not attack again.