The Northern Song Dynasty has always suffered relatively badly in terms of military strength, and since the failure of the Northern Expedition, its attitude towards the Liao State has gradually changed to passive defense. However, the gradual concessions of the Song Dynasty did not bring peace and stability, on the contrary, they fueled liao ambitions and became more rampant. The Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun were originally a natural barrier, but since these Sixteen Prefectures fell into the hands of the Hu people, the Central Plains were nothing less than bare in front of the Hu people, and all the dynasties in the Central Plains wanted to take them back again.
The twenty-five-year war between the Song and Liao dynasties was also for this place. Agriculture and handicrafts in this area are very developed, especially compared with the liao's own industry, which is several times more advanced, so the Khitan attach great importance to this area, and the capital city is built here.
After Empress Xiao took power, she devoted herself to the development of the Liao state and laid a lot of foundations for the Liao. In 104 AD, under the banner of recovering Nanguan, Empress Xiao joined hands with Liao Shengzu to invade the Song Dynasty, and this time the war came unexpectedly, and the Liao army launched a war overnight, first taking Suicheng, then capturing Dingzhou, and finally bypassing Liaozhou, hoping to cross the Yellow River directly from there and then take Tokyo directly. Such a battle situation on the front line soon reached the ears of Song Zhenzong, who was very frightened and began to consider moving the capital at the suggestion of several ministers.
However, at this moment, the prime minister Kou Zhun stepped forward and said that only the Zhenzong Imperial Conquest could boost morale. Although in fact, Zhenzong had eleven million unwilling in his heart, but in the end he was still hardened. When the generals saw the emperor in person, their morale was really high in an instant, and they all shouted "Long live".
The sudden rise of the loud momentum also attracted the attention of the Liao army. The Liao army rushed so far, in fact, it was also afraid that its old nest would be stabbed by others, so it had also proposed conditions for them to retreat, but at the beginning it was rejected by Zhenzong. In October of the same year, Liao's long-term absence led to problems in the supply of grain and grass, so he wanted to take the lead in attacking Yingzhou in a quick and decisive way, but he was never able to capture it. Later, the army of the Liao general Xiao Taorin also arrived and launched a charge.
Xiao Taorin frequently won wars with the Northern Song Dynasty, so his heart was also full of conceit, and he did not pay any attention to these defenders of the Song army, and only took dozens of cavalry to follow him on tour. At this moment, the Song army seized this perfect opportunity and shot it to death. After learning of Xiao Taorin's death, Empress Xiao was very sad in her heart, and the morale of the Liao army was greatly affected.
According to the records, at that time, Xiao Taorin was very arrogant and shouted, and just when Zhenzong went north to march in person, a soldier was very angry when he saw Xiao Taorin's appearance, and he said: I will solve him! So he moved the extremely lethal "Three-Bow Bed Crossbow", and then shot at the city randomly, and he didn't expect to shoot Xiao Taorin like this, and because the power of this crossbow arrow was really amazing, even the heroic Xiao Taorin was killed by a single blow. It was also a coincidence that he was shot to death, thus turning the tide of the war.
When the two armies are opposed, there will be a practice of letting the general call the battle, but under normal circumstances, it is not possible to hurt the person who calls the line, but it is not excluded that someone will shoot the enemy general when he calls the line. It is only because this practice is unjust and despicable, so it is also shameful. However, there is also a saying on the battlefield that "soldiers are not tired of cheating", and if you can get good results, you don't care about what despicable means are used.
Now that the lord of the enemy has appeared before him and is dangling in front of him, why should he give up the head of a man who can harvest so easily? The official who originally commanded the battle in the city was just an unknown small person named Zhang Huan, but it was precisely because of his move to shoot Xiao Taorin that the situation on the field was reversed.
Xiao Taorin's death was a fatal blow to the entire Liao army, and the morale of the Liao army fell instantly, but by this time, Kou Zhun of the Song Dynasty had personally gone to the city to command the battle. In this battle, the Liao army also encountered problems, although they had won frequently before, so they drove straight in, but at the same time caused the problem that the front line was too long to cause grain and grass to be replenished in time.
As shrewd as Empress Xiao, how could she not understand the problems she was facing now? Therefore, she had already thought about it before sending troops, and it did not matter whether it was victory or peace talks in the end, what was important was to keep her own interests. Now, seeing that the current situation was not favorable to her side, she was immediately prepared for peace talks, so she immediately sent someone to Liaozhou to express her intention for peace talks.
It just so happened that this practice also happened to be in the heart of Zhenzong, although Zhenzong went north to march in person, but his heart was actually full of panic. As soon as he saw that the other party wanted to talk about peace, then he immediately said that he could talk about peace. However, when his idea reached Kou Zhun's ears, Kou Zhun immediately went to Zhenzong and said that now was a good opportunity to take it down in one fell swoop, and many generals felt that the morale of the Song army was now strong, and it was a good time to take back Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures. But Zhenzong was afraid first, and he only wanted to flee the battlefield quickly after the peace talks.
As a result, the imperial court split into two factions, one faction was the main war faction headed by Kou Zhun, and the other faction was the main peace faction. The officials of the Lord's And Sect continued to incite the Zhenzong to negotiate peace, and not only that, they also attacked Kou Zhun, saying that he supported the army and respected himself regardless of the emperor's thoughts and safety. In desperation, Kou Zhun had to agree to peace talks. The two countries made clear their attitudes and positions, and in the end there was only a question of conditions, and Zhenzong said that as long as it was not a land cut, no matter how much money it would be lost, it would be acceptable. However, due to Liao's eagerness to make peace, no lion opened its mouth.
In the end, more than forty years of war between the Liao and Song dynasties finally ended, and cultural exchanges and trade development were also enhanced, but this peace made both sides no longer attach importance to military development, and finally was destroyed by Jin.
Resources:
【History of Liao", "Eastern Capital Chronicles, Volume IV, Honji 4"]