There was a whoosh sound of breaking through the air, and I saw a feathered arrow come out of the string, castrated extremely fast, and swooped straight at a tiger roaring in the snow, impartial, and hit the tiger's buttocks.

"Whew!" The pained tiger wailed, turned and pounced, as if trying to pounce on the old man who had wounded himself with his bow and arrow. But the tiger's body was firmly tied to a towering tree by a rope, and it couldn't move forward at all.

The archery was an old man on a horse, with a gloomy face, a white beard and eyebrows, a Khitan-style snow fur hat on his head, a white robe, and a string of Buddhist beads around his neck.

Seeing the old man shoot the tiger in the ass with an arrow, a young man who was also wearing a snow fur hat and a white robe beside him recited the Buddha's name and said in Khitan dialect: "The emperor's grandfather is still kind-hearted, and he can't bear to shoot the tiger, only shoot its buttocks, so it's better to release it." ”

The old man known as the emperor's grandfather, of course, is the master of Xiao Feng and Xiao Daxia in Jin Yong's pen, the current emperor of the Great Liao Kingdom, Yelu Hongji, who is known as Liao Daozong in history.

However, unlike the ambitious Yelu Hongji in Jin Daxia's pen, the Liao Daozong in reality never thought of going south to destroy the Song Dynasty. Even if you think about it, it's in vain, because the Great Liao Kingdom is declining under his governance, and it's almost Wang Xiaoer's New Year, and it's not as good as a year.

And the reason for the decline of the Great Liao State is, of course, the great prosperity of Buddhism! Buddhism was not originally the belief of the Khitans, who originally believed in shamanism. Originally, it was to appease the Han people who were ruled by the Khitan, and the Bohai people promoted Buddhism. But I didn't expect that the originally relatively simple Khitan people were more easily bewitched by Buddhism.

At the time of Yelu Hongji's accession to the throne, Buddhism was already a Buddhist country in the Great Khitan Kingdom (the two country names "Liao" and "Khitan" were repeatedly used in the history of the Liao State, and the country name was the Great Khitan when the Liao Daozong ascended the throne). In the Khitan country, there are many Buddhist temples, monks and nuns are everywhere, and everyone in the Khitan nation believes in Buddhism, and everyone is good.

And Yelu Hongji himself is an extremely devout disciple of the Buddha. After ascending the throne, the Buddhist scriptures were printed widely, pagodas and temples were built, and there were as many as 400,000 monks and monks - just raising these 400,000 monks and nuns made the Great Liao Kingdom, with a population of only more than 10 million, a little overwhelmed!

In addition, Yelu Hongji is also a lover of literature and art, proficient in music and rhythm, good at calligraphy and painting, and fond of poetry. He has always had a very friendly attitude towards the Great Song Dynasty, and during his decades of reign, he never really thought of going to war with the Song Dynasty.

But whoever wants to be an emperor like a good old man because this old man is very wrong. The old emperor who couldn't bear to kill the tiger also had a murderous side, and his queen Xiao Guanyin and the crown prince Yelujun were all killed by him...... Moreover, Yelujun, who was killed by himself, is still his only son, and after killing his own son, he seems to have infertility again, and he can't have another son. There was no way to have a son, so in the end he had to take Yelu Yanxi, the only son of Yelu Jun, who was killed, into the palace as the heir to the throne, but he was not officially canonized as the emperor's grandson - I don't know if he still has illusions about his fertility?

In short, Yelu Yanxi's life was also very worrying, and he didn't know when his kind old grandfather would succeed in planting, and then he would be killed......

In order to save his life when his grandfather has a new son, Yelu Yanxi needless to say over the years, he has naturally cultivated assycophancy.

And the first trick of sycophant magic is to do what he likes. Yelu Hongji's grandfather believed in Buddhism, and Yelu Yanxi, a good grandson, ate fasting and chanted scriptures all day long, and said that he wanted to go to the temple to become a monk.

Although he was six years old, he made the Zhongshu Order of the Great Liao State, and at the age of seventeen, he became the generalissimo of the world's soldiers and horses, and the general secretary of the Privy Council in the north and south, and was appointed as the Shangshu Order. But until now, Yelu Yanxi has not dared to get involved in the power and military power of Da Liao, and all year round he either kowtows in the temple and recites scriptures, or follows the emperor's grandfather behind his ass and pretends to be a good grandson.

His sycophant kung fu is actually not very good, but this attitude is good...... Whether the fart is good or not is a matter of level, and whether or not to shoot the fart is a matter of attitude.

Hearing his grandson's compliments, Yelu Hongji put away his horse bow and scolded with a smile: "You kid is getting better and better at talking, I can clearly shoot off, how can you be kind?" Still want to be released? If this tiger is released, will the shepherds, cattle and sheep of the steppe suffer? ”

"What the imperial grandfather taught me is that my grandson is abrupt."

Yelu Hongji looked at his grandson with a well-behaved appearance and said with a smile: "You come and shoot it, be neat, don't let it suffer." ”

"Yes."

Yelu Yanxi immediately clenched his fist, then took out his horse bow, mounted a feather arrow, and shot out with a whoosh, hitting the neck of the big tiger. The tiger screamed and fell into the snow, and the blood was poured out, staining a large area of snow and soil.

"The king is mighty!"

The Khitan warriors who were guarding around cheered loudly.

Yelu Hongji also smiled and nodded, "Okay, good, there is the majesty of Wu'er back then!" ”

Hearing this compliment, Yelu Yanxi's body couldn't help but tremble.

At this moment, several horsemen galloped over, and it was the prince of Yelu Hongji's imperial tent. The so-called Hou Langjun is the deacon of Yelu Hongji's cronies, mainly the children of Khitan nobles, but also the children of Xi, Han, and Bohai nobles and officials. It is mainly responsible for the daily life of the emperor's palace tent and performs related official duties.

Several horsemen rode to Yelu Yanxi, and then dismounted and saluted, and one of them also took out a scroll and a letter and handed it to Yelu Yanxi with both hands.

Yelu Yanxi took the scroll and unfolded it, and it turned out to be a portrait of a woman, and there were Chinese characters next to the portrait: Hanlin Picture Yuan Ministers used De Copy.

"What's the hell?" Yelu Hongji then asked.

"It's a painting."

"Painting?" Yelu Hongji was stunned.

Yelu Yanxi handed the painting to his grandfather, and he unfolded the chapter and looked at it, "Grandpa Huang, the letter was written by Xiao Haogu, and he said that the woman in this painting is the Empress Dowager Xiaoliang of the Xia Kingdom......"

"Oh, she's the Empress Dowager Xiaoliang, it's beautiful...... That's not right, didn't Xiao Haogu go to the Song Kingdom? Am I mistaken? Did he go to the Xia Kingdom? ”

"No, Grandpa Huang is not mistaken, Xiao Haogu did go to the Song Kingdom."

"How can I get the portrait of the Empress Dowager Xiaoliang when I go to the Song Kingdom?"

"The letter said that this painting was stolen by him and Liu Yun from the construction site of Xiping Wangfu in Kaifeng Mansion......"

"Steal?" Yelu Hongji was stunned, "The construction site of Xiping Palace? King Xiping is not, not ...... Isn't it the title of the lord of Xia when he was a minister in the Song Dynasty? ”

"Yes, Xiao Haogu said in the letter that the Empress Dowager Xiao Liang of the Xia State is likely to surrender to the Song State, and that Wei Ming A Bury was not captured, but the secret envoy of the Empress Dowager Xiao Liang, and he has been named the deputy envoy of the Dingyan Army."

"Actually, there is such a thing?" Yelu Hongji gasped, this thing sounds terrifying, if the Western Xia descends to the Great Song Dynasty, then the balance between Song and Liao will be completely broken.

"This painting can't be fake, right?" Yelu Hongji asked.

"Grandpa Huang, Xiao Haogu and Liu Yun have both been to the Xia Kingdom, and if they recognize the Empress Dowager Xiaoliang, there should be no fake." Yelu Yanxi thought for a while, and then said, "There are also ministers who have been to the Xia Kingdom in the winter bowl, you can ask them to see it again." ”

"Yes, yes." Yelu Hongji nodded again and again, and just as he wanted to give the order to return to the camp, a few more horsemen arrived on Langjun Pegasus.

This time it was sent a joint piece signed by Xiao Haogu and Liu Yun, the content of which was the conditions for the armistice between the Song Dynasty and the Western Xia that he had obtained when he met with the officials of the Song Dynasty.

"Grandpa Huang, Lord Song wants Empress Dowager Xiaoliang to go to Kaifeng Mansion!"

After reading the recital, Yelu Yanxi said loudly to his grandfather: "And he still refuses to return the land that has been encroached upon in the Xia Kingdom." ”

Yelu Hongji frowned deeply, and said in a low voice: "It seems that the Empress Dowager Xiaoliang is really going to descend the Song Dynasty......"

"Grandpa Huang, we can't let the Xia Kingdom fall to the Great Song Dynasty!" Yelu Yanxi hurriedly said, "Please ask the imperial grandfather to give the order to attack Yanmen Pass!" ”

In order to deter the Song State, this time Yelu Hongji's winter bowl camp was moved to the bank of the Sanggan River near Yanmen Pass. As long as it takes one day and one night, the army can launch an offensive against Yanmen Pass.

"Reckless!" Yelu Hongji shouted angrily, "How many soldiers and horses are there in the Winter Bowl Camp? How can I get to Yanmen Pass? ”

The winter bowl is actually the meaning of the winter palace, and the one who guards the palace is the palace tent army of the Liao State, also known as the palace army. The Liao State Palace Tent or Palace Divide System, also known as the Lu Duo System, is a very special system to strengthen the central power of the Liao State.

According to the Liao system, the Son of Heaven practiced the throne, placed the palace guard, divided the prefectures and counties, analyzed the tribes, set up the official government, registered the household registration, and prepared soldiers and horses.

That is to say, as long as the emperor ascends the throne, a palace guard must be set up, the population will be drawn from the prefectures, counties and tribes, the land will be divided to enrich the palace guard, and the government and army must also be set up.

And this palace guard is a force that directly belongs to the emperor himself, and it will not be disbanded after the emperor's death, and will still be controlled by the next emperor - this is not to say that the next emperor will not set up a new palace for himself.

Through this system, each Liao emperor or empress (not every empress had a palace guard) or even a prince would establish a palace guard directly under the imperial family, dividing the population and land of the tribal states and counties under its jurisdiction. In fact, it was a method of boiling frogs in warm water to slowly weaken the tribes and prefectures (mainly weakening the tribes) and strengthening the power of the Khitan royal family.

When the throne of the Great Liao passed to Yelu Hongji, the Liao State successively established eleven palaces and one palace. It has 187,000 palace households and 91,000 palace divisions.

In addition to the 91,000 palace army, the Liao emperor also controlled the left and right leather room army, and the left and right skin room army was originally the imperial tent army, with as many as 30,000 people. However, with the growth of the number of palace troops, the leather room army gradually became the border army of the Liao State, stationed in the key chong of the Song-Liao border and the Wujing of the Liao State.

Therefore, the royal camp army guarding Yelu Hongji was selected from the palace army of the eleventh palace and one mansion, and of course 91,000 people would not be selected, usually about 10,000 people. In addition, there is also a small number of leather room troops stationed in Seikyo-do that can also be mobilized at any time. The total number of troops will not exceed 15,000, and it will definitely not work to rely on them to fight Yanmen Pass......