<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="13" > Tuoba Li, Dang Xiangqiang</h1>
The Dangxiang people were a branch of the Qiang people, and their early nomadic herders migrated to the area around Gansu and Ningxia in gansu and Ningxia from about the eighth and ninth centuries AD due to the continuous invasion of Tibet in the borders of western Sichuan (present-day Ganzi Prefecture, Aba, Changtang and other places). Among them, tuobabu, who is said to be a descendant of the Xianbei people of northern Wei, migrated to Xia Prefecture (present-day Hengshan, Shaanxi) and mixed with the local Han, Tubo, Uighur and other ethnic groups, but they could also get along with each other and follow their own affairs. Xiazhou's head rests on the Yellow River, with its back to the Helan Mountains and the Tengger Desert, it is a peaceful and tranquil paradise. Since ancient times, this land has been said to be "paradise outside the Seychelles".
Tuoba Yuanhao imagined the diagram
Tuoba Sigong, the leader of the Qiang Tuoba clan of the Tang Dynasty, who had meritorious service in helping the imperial court to encircle and suppress the Huangchao peasant army at the end of the Tang Dynasty, was given the title of Duke of Xia by Emperor Tang and given the surname Li. During the Northern Song Dynasty, Li Jiqian, a descendant of the Duke of Xia (拓跋思恭, Li Sigong), had a conflict with the Song court, and the two sides fought continuously. In 1006, Li Jiqian's son Li Deming called off the war, reconciled with the Northern Song Dynasty, and was crowned the Prince of Xiping by the imperial court. The Song and Xia borders have returned to a scene of peace and tranquility, with knives and guns in storage, cattle and sheep in the wild, and war dust for more than 30 years.
The power of the Western Xia gradually expanded, and by the time of the Northern Song Dynasty, it had "exhausted the Yellow River in the east, bounded by Yumen in the west, Xiaoguan in the south (southeast of present-day Guyuan, Ningxia), controlled the desert in the north, and the local area was more than 10,000 miles away, and the Helan Mountains were considered solid." Compared with the vast Song Dynasty, the small country of Western Xia had few people and a relatively backward economy, and grain, salt, cloth, and tea depended on imports from the Song.
In 1003, The Dangxiang Prince Yuan Hao fell to the ground. His arrival changed the balanced pattern of good-neighborliness, friendship, and mutual communication between Song and Xia, and when he became an adult, he was fierce and belligerent, using a machete to set off a gust of bloody rain and bloody wind, erasing peace with a sharp sword, so that Helan Mountain and Tengger also lost their former tranquility and became a battlefield for the army to fight.
Xia Army Conquest Map
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="7" > Li Yuanhao, "God of War" in Western Xia</h1>
According to the Western Xia Shushi, Yuan Hao was "round and accurate, more than five feet long", and because of his noble birth, he received a good education since childhood, and was proficient in the Chinese (present-day Tibetan) and Chinese characters. Although he had also studied Buddhism, he did not have a sense of compassion for the heavens and the people, and he had also read many Han classics and historical texts, but he lacked the method of applying the scriptures to the world and governing the country. He had studied some of the soldier books carefully, and they had a great influence on him, and played an important role in his life as an iron horse soldier. The history books say that he was "sexually male and resolute, and has a rough idea." This can only be a comment on his repeated wars.
At that time, the Western Xia was surrounded by strong neighbors, surrounded by enemies on all sides, with Uighurs and Tubo to the west, the powerful Khitan (Liao) to the north, and the Northern Song Dynasty to the southeast. The political situation of the Liao State is stable, the military strength is strong, and there is no gap to take advantage of. The Northern Song Dynasty had strong economic strength, vast territory and abundant talents. Uighurs and Tubo are accustomed to plundering, good at attacking and fighting, and not easy to deal with. The timing and geographical advantages were not conducive to the outward expansion of Western Xia. However, Yuan Hao, who was unruly and had a very high self-esteem, wanted to rely on his personal talents to expand the territory, attack the city strategically, compete with his strong neighbors, and establish immortal deeds.
Li Yuanhao in the film and television drama
After the establishment of the Northern Song Dynasty, the dangxiang people who divided the northwest suddenly surrendered and rebelled, which has always been a major problem for the northwest border of the Song Dynasty. In 1006, the party leader Li Deming moved the capital to Xingzhou (present-day Yinchuan, Ningxia) at the foot of the Helan Mountains, and used the water of the Yellow River to repair canals for irrigation, vigorously develop farming, consolidate economic and military strength, and strengthen economic and trade exchanges with the Northern Song Dynasty. In the past 30 years, the Western Xia (early self-proclaimed Great Xia) "Hehuang Yunhe, Jia Qichen Committee", the strength of the strong again, and took the opportunity to attack a large area such as Ganzhou and Liangzhou.
After Li Deming's death, he was succeeded by his son Li Yuanhao. Li Yuanhao is not an idle person. Some people call him an outstanding politician and military figure of the Dangxiang clan, who can fight well, ride and shoot well, and is also familiar with Buddhist scriptures, good at the art of war, painting and inventing instruments (he also ordered his apprentice Yu Beg to imitate the Chinese characters and invent the Western Xia script). As early as when he was the crown prince, he led the army to conquer the east and the west, and repeatedly made military achievements, because of the strict management of the army and the strong personality, the chiefs of various tribes were extremely in awe of him, and regarded him as the "god of war of the party". After succeeding to the throne, he reused the frustrated literati who had fallen from the Song to the Western Xia, and imitated the central official system and local administrative system of the Song Dynasty to establish the Western Xia Dynasty.
In 1038, Yuan Hao declared himself emperor and established the so-called Great White High State, with the name of Great Xia (historically known as Western Xia), duxingqing Province (present-day Yinchuan). Li Yuanhao's actions made Western Xia officially become a state from a tribal alliance.
Tuoba Yuanhao in the film and television drama
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="20" > Li Yuanhao repeatedly provoked wars with Liao and Song after succeeding to the throne, and his achievements were outstanding</h1>
After Li Yuanhao claimed to be emperor, the Song court immediately canceled the annual reward of 10,000 taels of silver, 10,000 silk, and 20,000 yuan of money (year coins) given to Western Xia, and banned mutual markets on the border, and the contradictions between the two sides quickly escalated. In 1040, Li Yuanhao continued to launch plunder wars against the Song, the most famous of which was the Battle of Sanchuankou. In 1041, the Battle of Haoshuichuan broke out in Songxia, Yuan Hao used his troops to deceive, the Song army suffered heavy casualties, tens of thousands of soldiers were killed, new graves were everywhere in the Guanzhong area, and the family was filial piety. Because Yuan Hao continued to launch wars, the Western Xia, which had little strength and a backward economy, also cut off the source of trade with the Liao and Song Dynasties in endless wars for many years, the domestic economy withered, the enlistment was heavy, the people could not be recruited, the young and middle-aged men were killed and wounded, and some tribes even had only "women and children with white hair" left to farm in the fields.
In 1044, Emperor Yelüzong of Liaoxing led more than 100,000 iron horses plus nearly 100,000 servants of various ethnic groups to attack the Xia Realm in three ways. Li Yuanhao was a natural general, but he was not chaotic in the face of the enemy. He adopted the strategy of luring the enemy to go deeper, fortified the wall and cleared the field, and more than 200,000 Liao troops drove straight in, and soon there was a dilemma of poor logistics and grass, and the lack of grain in the army. Li Yuanhao also took the opportunity to confuse Liao Xingzong with peacemaking, delaying and delaying the speed of the Liao army's attack, and finally launched a counterattack when the Liao army was tired and demoralized, defeating the Liao army and killing and capturing more than 100,000 Liao officers and men. Western Xia was also seriously injured, and a large area north of Yinzhou and Xingzhou was basically razed to the ground.
Yuan Hao skillfully took advantage of the background of the Song-Liao confrontation and continuous attacks to lead the relatively weak Western Xia left and right, or to survive in the cracks, and to adhere to independence and development under a flexible foreign policy.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="26" > Yuanhao's final outcome: killed by Prince Ning Lingge </h1>
Although Yuan Hao was good at using troops and repeatedly won victories, he was still facing the dilemma of poor resources, complicated and difficult state affairs, more than half of the dead and injured by Young Zhuang, and the tragic situation full of devastation and war weariness in China made him restless and restless. In the long years of war, the god of war Yuan Hao has repeatedly won, but it has brought loss and pity.
Shi Zai, Yuan Hao has 7 wives. Among them, the eldest wife Ya'er had three sons, the eldest son and the third son died early, and the second son, Ning Lingge, looked exactly like YuanHao, who was particularly fond of him, and made him a prince, and after raising him, he was ready to marry him. Shi Zai, Yuan Hao selected a beautiful woman for the prince, The Prince was very satisfied, the wedding was imminent, Yuan Hao actually coveted and coveted the amazing beauty of his daughter-in-law, regardless of human morality, the Mayik clan was included in his harem, and established as the new empress, seeking pleasure every day, not leaving the palace door. The prince was shy and angry, wanted to cry without tears, jumped like thunder, and shouted that he was ashamed to see the people of the world.
Ning Lingge's mother, Ya'er, was from a well-known party background and was astute and intelligent, she had been snubbed by Yuan Hao, and she was not the only empress, and she was resentful and angry. Her son Ning Lingge cried to her about the hatred of being robbed of his wife by his father, and her own relatives were wrongfully killed by Yuanhao, and her inner pain was several times more than that of her son, so she conspired with her son in the dark room to plan a way for her son to get rid of the tyrant Yuanhao.
Ning Lingge and Princess Mayik in the film and television drama
Shi Zai, in the first month of 1048, on a sunny day, Yuan Hao took the crown prince Ning Lingge, hundred officials and retinues to hunt under Helan Mountain to relieve boredom. A panicked yellow sheep was driven out of the rocks. The retinue deliberately dodged away, allowing Yuan Hao to chase the shooter. Yuan Hao's interest soared, bending his bow and taking an arrow, and one arrow hit it, the yellow sheep ran wildly in the middle of the arrow, and Yuan Hao's horse chased after it. His horse was fast, and his entourage was far behind, only prince Ning Lingge followed close behind, he turned back to call for his son, but saw that his son was showing a fierce light, and was pulling out his waist knife and slashing at his own head. He hurriedly tilted his head to dodge, although he avoided the fatal blow, the blade cut off the bridge of his nose, and by the time the guards caught up, Ning Lingge had already fled on horseback.
Yuan Hao's blood flowed unceasingly, and the pain was unbearable, and he was carried back to the palace by everyone, and soon died of his injuries, only 46 years old.
After Prince Ning ling's father was unsuccessful, he fled to the home of the head of the secret tibetan, Otpeng, to seek refuge. However, Otpeng ordered his men to kill the prince for his merits.
After Yuan Hao's death, Western Xia collapsed. After that, the Western Xia was sometimes dependent on the Song, sometimes dependent on the Jin, although it did not have the poor soldiers of the Yuan Hao period, but the country was weak and the people were poor, and there was no glory until it was destroyed by the Mongol army in 1227 AD.
Battle of the Good Water River
Film and television stills
【Illustrations from the Internet】