Chapter 261 Big victory!
Xijing City, the palace of King Qin.
Li Ge, excited, walked into the main hall under the guidance of the palace steward, and saw a burly man with a big horse and a golden sword sitting at the top.
Li Ge quickly bowed his head and saluted respectfully, saying, "I pay my respects to the Grand Marshal!"
Yelu Chongyuan looked at Li Ge and asked, "Did you get the secret recipe?"
"Reporting to the Grand Marshal, I have got it. I have seen the secret recipe and it should not be fake." Li Ge said as he quickly took out the secret recipe.
The butler took it and presented it to Yelu Chongyuan.
"As long as the Song Dynasty is not stupid, it will not dare to fool me with fake things!" Yelu Chongyuan sneered.
He sent troops only to harass and did not go deep into looting. In fact, he was also warning the Song Dynasty not to play tricks on him.
Although Li Ge had contact with Zhao Xing, in Yelu Chongyuan's view, Zhao Xing was just a puppet, and the emperor and his ministers of the Song Dynasty were the ones plotting behind the scenes.
If the Song Dynasty dares to play tricks on him, it will face his endless revenge.
Yelu Chongyuan took a look at the secret recipe, handed it to the butler, and said, "Have someone try it."
"Yes!" the steward responded and walked out with the secret recipe.
Yelu Chongyuan looked at Li Ge and said, "You have made a great contribution this time. From now on, all the Han merchants in my palace will be under your management."
"Thank you, Marshal!" Li Ge said excitedly.
"Okay, step back." Yelu Chongyuan said lightly.
In his opinion, the Han people were nothing more than slaves. Since Li Ge was capable, it was nothing to make him the slave leader.
"Report to the Grand Marshal, the Crown Prince of the Song Dynasty has something else for me to convey to the Grand Marshal." Li Ge said.
"What?"
"The Crown Prince of the Song Dynasty said that once the Grand Marshal gets the secret recipe, he can no longer send people to harass the border of the Song Dynasty. Otherwise, he will announce the deal with the Grand Marshal." Li Ge said.
"boom!"
Yelu Chongyuan slammed the table and stood up, his hair standing on end, and shouted, "How dare a little kid threaten me!"
Li Ge was so scared that he was trembling, his face turned pale, and he cursed Zhao Xing in his heart.
He had heard that Yelu Chongyuan was moody and often beat his servants to death when he was angry.
"Generalissimo!"
At this moment, a general hurriedly ran out of the hall and was stopped by the soldiers standing at the door.
Yelu Chongyuan saw that it was one of his generals and frowned, "Let him in!"
The guard at the door made way upon hearing this, and the visitor hurried into the hall.
"You were not in Datong Prefecture, why did you suddenly come back?" Yelu Chongyuan frowned.
"Reporting to the Grand Marshal, at dawn today, a faint sound of shouting and killing was heard outside Datong City. The direction from which the sound came seemed to be the hiding place of the cavalry sent out to harass the Song Dynasty.
When I sent people to investigate, I found that the Song Dynasty had actually sent troops to encircle and suppress those cavalry. When I learned the news and led troops to rescue, the Song Dynasty troops had already withdrawn.
I was worried that it was a trap, so I didn't dare to continue chasing!
The cavalry hiding in the valley were all wiped out, and only a few people escaped from the other valley where the soldiers were hiding. "
"Useless!" Yelu Chongyuan kicked the general who reported the news to the ground. "How many cavalrymen does the Song Dynasty have? Those valleys have little impact on the cavalry charge, how could the whole army be wiped out?"
Although it is called a valley, it is actually just two depressions, and the surrounding hillsides are not high.
It's quite remote over there, and you won't see anyone camping there unless you get close.
It can also avoid wind.
Once the enemy is discovered, it will not affect the cavalry charge.
"Reporting to the Grand Marshal, according to the surviving soldiers, they were not prepared at all. The Song army took advantage of the night to sneak up on the top of the valley and ignited many fireballs that rolled down the hillside.
At that time, the soldiers were all sleeping. The fireballs rolled down, and the horses were frightened and ran around. They could not control the horses at all.
The Song army also ambushed a large number of archers above the valley, which is why the entire army was annihilated."
"How dare you say that? I told you to be careful and alert. If we had sent out scouts, how could someone have found us?"
Yelu Chongyuan became even angrier upon hearing this and kept kicking the general.
"Those soldiers were drawn from several tribes by me. Now they are all dead. How can I explain to them?"
There were only 10,000 cavalrymen sent out this time. If they died, they died. Yelu Chongyuan was not that sad.
But these troops were borrowed from the nobles who supported him.
His territory is not here, and the Liao emperor will not allow him to move his troops out of his territory.
If the dead were soldiers under his command, he would be sad but would not be so angry.
"Grand Marshal, calm down!"
Li Ge huddled aside, and suddenly thought of something, so he stepped forward and said, "Grand Marshal, have you ever thought about why the Song army was able to find the place where the army was hiding?"
"Hmm?" Yelu Chongyuan stopped what he was doing, looked at Li Ge and shouted, "Just say whatever you want to say!"
"Yes!" Li Ge didn't dare to keep it a secret any longer, and said quickly: "The Song Dynasty is weak, and the soldiers only dare to stay near the Song Dynasty city and never dare to go deep into the Liao Dynasty. Even if the Song Dynasty finds the hiding place of the army, how can the Song Dynasty have the courage to send troops to attack?
I think someone told the Song Dynasty where the Dacaogu cavalry were hiding. And promised that if the Song Dynasty sent troops, they would not retaliate against the Song Dynasty, otherwise the Song Dynasty would not have the courage to do so! "
Yelu Chongyuan thought for a moment and sneered, "My good nephew seems to be impatient!"
When Emperor Zhenzong defeated the Liao Kingdom, he took the initiative to send people to beg for peace. The weakness of the Song Dynasty had already penetrated into the hearts of the Liao people.
He was too angry just now to think about these things. Now that Li Ge reminded him, he finally came to his senses.
"Then tell me what I should do now?" Yelu Chongyuan asked.
"I don't know the Grand Marshal's plan, so I dare not speak rashly." Li Ge said.
When it comes to playing tricks and schemes, the Han people are the ancestors of nomadic peoples.
Li Ge had long noticed the discord between Yelu Chongyuan and the Liao Emperor.
He also wanted to give advice to Yelu Chongyuan. If his suggestions were useful, he might be able to become Yelu Chongyuan's adviser.
However, Li Ge was not carried away. His words just now had already shown himself in front of Yelu Chongyuan.
Now he is not clear about Yelu Chongyuan’s specific plan, so it is difficult for him to give Yelu Chongyuan any advice.
If something goes wrong, the good impression you just made will be gone, and you might even lose your life.
Yelu Chongyuan did not make things difficult for Li Ge. He thought about it carefully and then laughed.
"My nephew really helped me a lot!"
Upon hearing this, Li Ge wanted to ask, but he didn't dare.
Yelu Chongyuan had no intention of explaining. He had the wounded general carried out and sent Li Ge away. He then called a confidant and gave him some instructions.
…………
"Great victory for the Duke of England!"
Fang Zhou rushed to the meeting place agreed with the British Duke and met the Duke of England. He said excitedly: "I killed thousands of enemies and only a few escaped. Unfortunately, the war horses were frightened and ran around wildly. Many of them had injured hooves and many were shot. There were less than a thousand horses intact."
"Haha, that's already pretty good. I've also killed several thousand on our side. Together, we've wiped out nearly ten thousand Liao cavalry. With this lesson, I'm afraid the Liao won't dare to send people to raid Caogu in the next few years." The Duke of England laughed.
"That's right!" Fang Zhou said with a smile, "Once we publicize the results of this battle, it will surely boost the morale of the northern soldiers and civilians!"
"This matter cannot be publicized. We can only say to the outside world that we have wiped out two gangs of horse bandits who have been robbing for years." The Duke of England said upon hearing this.
Fang Zhou was stunned when he heard this, but soon he figured out the key.
The Liao Kingdom never admitted that the bandits who robbed the country were sent by them.
Being surrounded and attacked, they can only swallow this loss in silence.
Once they spread the news everywhere, everyone would know about it and the Liao Kingdom would no longer care about it.
By then, they might even bite back, accusing the Song Dynasty of a sneak attack on the Liao army and demanding compensation from the Song Dynasty.
It might even lead to war.
Although he understood, Fang Zhou was still unwilling to accept it and said, "It's really a pity that such a great victory cannot be publicized."
The Duke of England was actually feeling aggrieved. Hearing this, he was silent for a while and then comforted her, "It will get better in the future."
When receiving the imperial edict, the Duke of England was happy but also a little surprised.
He thought he knew the emperor's temperament quite well, and based on his understanding of the emperor, it was unlikely that the emperor would issue such an imperial decree.
It is definitely impossible to fake the imperial edict, so the only possibility is that someone influenced the official's decision.
And this person is most likely Zhao Xing.
The reason why he was so sure was that Zhao Xing intended to launch an attack on Western Xia.
Judging from several contacts with Zhao Xing, Zhao Xing had no intention of simply seeking peace, but rather advocated taking the initiative to mobilize troops.
When Zhao Xing ascends the throne in the future, the situation will change.
But he couldn't say these words.
Seeing Fang Zhou wanted to ask, the Duke of Ying said, "Hurry up and count the results of the battle and send them to Bian Jing!"
…………
Zhao Xing was not aware of what was happening in the north. After he persuaded his father to send troops, he remembered that he seemed to have overlooked something.
Yelu Chongyuan sent troops to harass the border of the Song Dynasty, one of his purposes was to cover up the transactions between the two sides.
If the Song Dynasty sends troops and Sheng Changsong has not completed the transaction with Li Ge, it will be troublesome.
However, he thought about it carefully and did not persuade his father to postpone the military action.
Anyway, he would give the secret recipe to Li Ge only after he got the warhorse. Even if the subsequent transaction could not go ahead, he would still make a profit.
As long as Yelu Chongyuan still wants the secret recipe of perfume, we can still trade it later.
As for whether Yelu Chongyuan would be angry because the Song Dynasty's troops were encircling him, Zhao Xing was not worried.
The reason why he made a deal with Yelu Chongyuan was for profit. As long as there was profit, no matter how great the hatred was, he could let it go.
What's more, for Yelu Chongyuan, the top priority is to seize the throne, and everything else has to be put aside.
Not to mention that the Song Dynasty only encircled and suppressed the cavalry he sent out to harass them, even if they had robbed his wife, the deal would still have been made.
After understanding this, Zhao Xing had nothing to worry about.
However, Mr. Yu and Hai Wenyou's thorough investigation of the land was not so smooth.
Everything is fine with Mr. Yu, but Hai Wenyou is in big trouble.
(End of this chapter)