Chapter Sixteen: The Liao Country's Conspiracy

  Zhuozhou was a city of the Liao Dynasty and an important base for the Liao's invasion of the Song Dynasty. The city walls were several dozen li in circumference, high and thick, making it a formidable fortress.

  Zhuozhou was still an important transit station for border trade between the Liao and Song dynasties. Many Liao merchants passed through here, entered the Song territory, came to Xiongzhou, sold various goods, and then purchased various goods from Xiongzhou, transported them through Zhuozhou to Youzhou, and then transported them to various parts of Liao.

  It is, Zhuozhou is extremely important in terms of both military and economic trade. The goods passing through here every day are countless, and the merchants coming and going are too numerous to count.

  The whole Zhuozhou is very prosperous, with people coming and going, bustling with activity.

  At the city gate, a group of Liao soldiers stood on both sides, holding weapons and sizing up the merchants coming and going.

  Not far away, a man riding a tall and powerful horse came galloping over, arriving at the city gate. He pulled on the reins, and the horse stopped. The man raised his head to take a look around, and saw that above the city gate hung a signboard with two characters "Zhuo Zhou" written on it. At the top were the words in Khitan script, while below them were the same words written in Chinese characters.

  "Zhuozhou, Zhuozhou!"

  "This man muttered to himself, his face gloomy: 'Zhuozhou is the place where the three sworn brothers of Taoyuan were from, a famous place in China. But I once had no choice but to flee and rely on Liao State, and had to listen to the orders of those Liao dogs! Hmph! Although I am a thief, I do not want to be a running dog for Liao State, but now, I have no choice. Guishen, I will definitely come back! I will definitely slaughter Guishen! I will definitely kill Wu Jie! Wu Jie, you killed so many of my brothers, I won't forgive you! I will take revenge on your behalf tomorrow!"

  This man was Zeng Dashan, who had escaped from the capital of Song Dynasty but was being pursued by the Song army and lived in constant fear. In the end, he gritted his teeth and decided to defect to Liao State, willing to be a running dog for the Khitan people.

  Zeng Dashen grasped the reins and quickly entered Zhuozhou, heading straight for the residence of the Zhuozhou garrison commander.

  The Liao general guarding Zhuozhou was called Yelü Ming, a fierce warrior. He handled military affairs on a high ground east of the city. The terrain here is slightly higher, overlooking the entire city, which is an ideal place to station troops.

  Yelü Ming's commandery was a vast courtyard, with two stone lions at the entrance that seemed to come alive and were extremely majestic. A team of soldiers stood on both sides, holding weapons and wearing helmets and armor, standing upright like spears, exuding an aura of murder, worthy of being the elite of Liao State.

  "Who are you? Halt!"

  As soon as Zeng Danyan arrived, the leading soldier took a big step forward, blocking Zeng Danyan's way. A pair of eyes, like those of an eagle, scanned Zeng Danyan from head to toe.

  "It's a Han dog!" The soldier recognized Zeng Danyan's Han identity and couldn't help but curl up the corner of his mouth, extremely disdainful: "Han dog, get out! Get out of here!"

  The Liao state has occupied the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun for over a hundred years, and relies heavily on the Han people here. However, the social status of the Han people is not high, and in the eyes of the Khitan people, the Han people are almost as lowly as dogs.

  "Liao dog, you're deceiving people too much!" Zeng Danyan cursed in his heart, but didn't dare to show it at all. With a face full of affectionate smiles, like seeing an old ancestor, he bowed his body to 90 degrees, extremely respectful: "Sir, please allow me to report, I have important matters to report to General Yelü!"

  "Haha!"

  The soldiers couldn't help but throw their heads back and burst out laughing, with faces full of disdain and scorn, as if they had just heard the most ridiculous joke in the world.

  "Think you can see the great general? With just this Han dog?"

  "What's the big deal about Han dogs? Yelü Da Jiangjun is a high-ranking general, you say see and see?"

  "Know your limits! Scram!"

  A group of soldiers sized up Zeng Danyan and shouted at him, just like they were yelling at a dog, not giving Zeng Danyan any face.

  Zeng Dashan came with great enthusiasm, but unexpectedly ended up with a hot face and a cold butt. He was so depressed that he went crazy, if it weren't for his desperate situation, he would have drawn his sword and killed these Liao soldiers long ago.

  Now, under the low eaves, he couldn't help but bow his head, forcing himself to hold back a mouthful of resentment, and smiled even more intimately: "I have extremely important military information to report to General Yelü. I have a way to capture Xiongzhou."

  "Really?" The eyes of all the soldiers focused on Zeng Danyan, their faces full of surprise.

  "Ah!" The leading soldier, with a curved knife in hand, placed it on Zeng Dayan's neck and shouted: "If you dare to utter one word of falsehood, I will cut off your dog head!"

  Xiong Prefecture, also known as Wabiao Pass, is a city that the Liao State dreams of obtaining. Because Xiong Prefecture is the key city blocking the Liao State's army from entering the Central Plains, if it falls into the hands of the Liao State, the gate to the Central Plains will be wide open, and the Liao cavalry will gallop across the land of the Central Plains.

  In order to capture Wabao Pass, Liao used every trick in the book and exhausted all means, but still failed.

  Zeng Daoyuan's words were like a thunderclap on a clear day, and it was impossible for the soldiers not to be shocked.

  "Really! Absolutely true!" Zeng Danyan had to grit his teeth and loudly affirm in order to see Ye Lü Ming.

  He didn't seem to be lying, so the soldiers sheathed their curved blades and coldly sized up Zeng Danyan: "State your name! If you utter even half a lie, I'll chop you down."

  "My name is Zeng Danyan, Zeng Danyan!" Zeng Danyan replied with a humble and respectful tone, suppressing his grievances.

  "Take care of him!" The leading soldier waved his hand, and several soldiers drew their curved knives, surrounding Zeng Dayan with a fierce gaze.

  The leading soldier then stepped forward to report.

  Yelü Ming, eight feet tall, with a robust build, stood like an iron tower on the ground. His face was covered with whiskers, adding to his majestic appearance, and his eyes shone like bronze bells, bright and piercing, as if they were the radiant sun in the sky, dazzling to behold.

  Yelü Ming stood in front of a huge map, constantly sizing it up. His tiger eyes flashed with divine light at times, and his eyebrows furrowed at other times, deep in thought.

  "General, are you worrying about the New Year's money again?" a tall and stately Liao general asked tentatively.

  "Yelü Bogu, you know. Since the Emperor ascended to the throne, he has been thinking of ways to force the Song Emperor to increase the annual tribute. Every time the tribute arrives, there will be some action." Yelü Mingkui's huge mouth opened wide, as if devouring people and bones, turned around, sizing up the Liao general, saying: "The Emperor's thoughts, I know a thing or two. Forcing the Song Emperor to increase the annual tribute is only one of them. But as long as we succeed, the Emperor will definitely be delighted. The time for the tribute is approaching, if we can win a big victory at the border, it will surely make the Song Emperor's heart tremble with fear, and then we will have achieved great merit."

  "General Yelü says it's reasonable!" Yelü Bogesa sneered, "The cowardice of the Song Emperor is renowned. The territory of the Song Dynasty is dozens of times larger than that of the Great Liao, and its population is tens of millions, more than ten times that of the Great Liao. However, they have been oppressed by the Great Liao for over a hundred years. During the Chongxi era, when the Great Liao made a show of force, the Song Emperor obediently doubled the annual tribute."

  The Song Dynasty was the first dynasty in Chinese history with a population of over 100 million, which is a great achievement.

  "What's more, the Song Emperor is timid and actually agreed to change the tribute into a gift, how shameless! Is he ashamed or not?" Yelü Mihai burst out laughing: "Although this is a good thing for the Great Liao, with a hundred benefits and no harm, I'm embarrassed for the Song Emperor. The Great Liao is just pretending to be powerful. This time, I don't want to pretend, but want to have a good fight."

  "Just making a show of force can scare the Song Emperor into a mess, if we really engage in a fierce battle, won't the Song Emperor be frightened out of his wits?" Yelü Bogs's voice rose several degrees, becoming somewhat shrill and piercing.

  Just then, a personal guard came in and reported: "Reporting to the commander, there is a Han dog named Zeng Danyan who wants to see the commander..."

  "Zeng Danyan?" Yelü Ming raised an eyebrow: "But isn't he the leader of the Liufeng thieves?"

  As the commander of the Liao army, Yelü Ming was extremely familiar with the situation on the Song-Liao border and was very familiar with Zeng Danyan, a notorious bandit chief.

  "The great general is wise and brilliant, it's this person." The personal soldier hurriedly reported: "He said he has a way to capture Xiongzhou."

  "Seize the state of Yu? Haha!" Yelü looked up at the sky, laughing uncontrollably. His voice was like thunder, shaking people's eardrums and making them buzz with a loud hum.

  "How arrogant!" Yelü Ming laughed for a long time before stopping: "This Han dog thinks that the iron cavalry of the Great Liao only eats mutton and drinks mare's milk? Xiongzhou, the most important city on the border where the Song Emperor is located, has high walls and thick defenses, with elite soldiers stationed there. Is it so easy to take?"

  "General, let me go and kill that boastful Han dog!" Yelü Bogs's face turned icy cold, his right hand pressed on the hilt of his sword, a murderous glint flashing in his eyes.

  "No!" Yelü Ming waved his hand to stop him, laughing: "Although it's a big talk, it has some use. Hmm, you go make a dog cage, and then lock him in it, humiliate him properly, the more he's suffocated, the more useful he'll be when attacking Song territory."

  "With a dog cage?" Yelü Bósà was first surprised, then seemed to have an epiphany, and couldn't help but smile secretly: "General, you're really something, able to come up with this kind of method."

  "With brush and ink at my service, I'll go and send a letter to report to Commander-in-Chief Du! " Yelü Mingxin was in high spirits and laughed: "Taking Xiongzhou is not necessarily easy, but getting benefits is no problem. Zeng Danyan, you've come just in time! Treading on iron shoes without searching for a place, it's all effortless!"

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