After leaving Yanmen Pass, it is the Xiantian area.

Xiantian, this term has appeared many times in Chinese history. The largest can reach thousands of square kilometers, while the smallest can only reach hundreds of square kilometers. This is caused by the unstandard division of territory in ancient times. The border line between the two countries is unclear, and it is difficult to figure out which country the few regional territories belong to. So it became a zone of no-coherence, and most of the people living in it were brave. For example, it turned out that Tianshengzhai from Jingyuan Road to Xiaoguan was strictly an idle field. The Tang Dynasty fell to the end of the Tang Dynasty.

At that time, this kind of idle field was north of Huizhou, west of Helan Mountain in Tiandu Mountain to the vast area of ​​Yinshan. The Khitan and the Song Dynasty were easily divided at the junction of Hebei. The terrain was flat, but there were many mountains north of Daizhou, and the territory was always arguing. So the Khitan came to ask about the territory again. It cannot be said that it must be from the Song Dynasty, but it cannot be said that it must be from the Khitan, because there is a very narrow mountainous idle field. The issue of the belonging of this slender idle field is the issue.

Zheng Lang suddenly led his men to the west.

Only more than one hundred miles away from Daizhou City is Chenjiagu.

It's at the foot of the ancient Great Wall.

This trip not only requires looking at some of the situations in the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun, but also many mysteries have not been revealed, such as Yang Ye's death, such as why the Han people frantically resisted Song Taizong's revenge on Youzhou.

When I came to Chenjia Valley, a small river valley area, and to the north were some mountains with some trees. Before leaving, Yang Ye told Pan Mei that I was determined to send troops this time. I am a surrendered general and should have died long ago. The Lord asked me to lead the troops. Today I will repay the Lord with death. I have been your subordinate for seven years and I have no request. I just want you to bury archers in Chenjia Valley. If I fail to respond, the entire army will be wiped out.

He said it very sadly, Pan Mei agreed.

The ambush place Yang Ye refers to is about the mountains on both sides of the road. Pan Mei ambushed the archers on both sides of the mountain road.

Zheng Lang looked at the Chenjia Valley silently. The river valley was not big, and the Great Wall was destroyed in the distance and could hardly be seen clearly. There were several sparse small villages nearby. It was early February, and there were still some snow on the mountains that had not melted. Several herders drove dozens of cattle and sheep to grazing on the mountain. The cattle and sheep were chewing on the goose yellow shallow grass with difficulty. Several herders were wearing shabby jackets and looked at the group curiously. There were several ancient wells beside the village. Except for some children who walked out curiously and looked at them with their ranks, the village was very quiet and could no longer see the marks of the ancient battlefield.

Zheng Lang said: "Let's go."

If you go north, there is a road from Chenjiagu to Langya Village, which is not as smooth as the official roads of the Song Dynasty, but it is not small. Otherwise, Yang Ye would not have allowed Pan Mei to send ambush troops to hide in Chenjiagu to help. Zheng Lang took a look. How far is Chenjiagu from Langya Village, how long does it take to ride a horse, and whether you can send scouts.

Pan Mei was not responsible for the incident back then, but it was impossible to say that she was not responsible at all.

At first, Yang Ye was very rational, and the army of the Central East Road retreated. The army of the West Road could not support it. He followed the edict of Emperor Taizong of Song and immigrated to Taiyuan early when the main Khitan army had not arrived. It happened that the Later Han Dynasty had fought for many years, and the entire Hedong Road lacked people. More than 90% of the sixteen prefectures of Youyun were Han people, and there was no repulsion. Of course, it would not cause Li Shibin's subordinates to rebel. The people were moved to Shijie Valley first, and thousands of archers were sent to the valley entrance, and the cavalry supported them in the middle, so the immigration task could be completed smoothly.

The military supervisor Wang Zhi refused to listen and insisted on sending Yang Ye to fight. Pan Mei held a neutral opinion in the middle and did not make any noise. Yang Ye was repeatedly agitated by Wang Zhi, so he had to fight with grief. However, he met the strongest general of the Khitan, who was also a wise general. Yelu Xizhen deliberately sent his army to be defeated and lured Yang Ye to Langya Village 30 miles south of Shuozhou City. Yang Ye set out in the early morning and fought fiercely with Yelu Xizhen at Langya Village at noon. In Langya Village, Yelu Xizhen set up a net of heaven and earth in Langya Village, but Yang Ye actually killed him. He fought and retreated, and arrived at Chenjiagu in the evening.

Pan Mei sent an ambush. Seeing that Yang Ye had not returned for a long time, Wang Zhi asked Pan Mei to withdraw the ambush. Yang Ye came to Chenjiagu and saw that there were no reinforcements and cried bitterly. Then he led more than 100 subordinates to fight tens of thousands of Khitans in blood, but none of them surrendered, and the entire army was wiped out. After Yang Ye killed nearly 100 Khitan soldiers, he was forcibly captured and killed on a hunger strike for three days without surrender. Therefore, historical books say that he died in battle, not captured. This is an official statement and was adopted by later generations. Yang Ye was very brave and loyal, but made mistakes in decision-making.

If such a major mistake really occurs, you must know that it is precisely because of Yang Ye that Song Taizu failed to conquer the Later Han Dynasty. This shows that Yang Ye’s military talent is no less than that of Zhao Kuangyin. How could such a mistake occur? This is what Zheng Lang pursued.

Riding to Langya Village, then turning back quickly.

I looked at the hourglass and it took only an hour to go back and forth. It was really not far, only forty miles, at most fifty miles. If the scout rode a fast horse to inquire, the speed would be faster.

Zheng Lang looked at the hourglass and felt extremely sad and angry.

Not so.

In order to cover up the ugliness, this heroic history was covered up by some people.

The reason why Yang Ye used himself as bait to lure Yelu Xizhen into Chenjiagu, and ambushed up everywhere. He fought fiercely with the Khitans for a long time. The Khitan soldiers became a tired army, so they would inevitably turn defeat into victory. But when they came to Chenjiagu... Then Yang Ye then touched his chest and cried. Why do you need to cry if you are not afraid of death?

Even if the troops are withdrawn, the scouts must be sent to take a look. It is really not far away. Yang Ye was not far away from the scout's reconnaissance range. There are more than 40 miles away, and there is a great road. What is it for the scouts? Why doesn't it take long to send a scouts to take a look when the two of them retreat?

Khitan officials have arrived after hearing the news.

Zheng Lang is worshiping Yang Ye.

The Khitans also valued heroes, and Yang Ye's deeds were still passed down from the Khitan to the Song Dynasty. They all remained silent.

After the worship, Zheng Lang wrote a letter asking the guards to send them back to Yanmen Pass and asked Zhang Kang to bring them to Zhao Zhen.

Zhao Zhen looked at it and said nothing for a long time.

It wouldn't really overturn the verdict, it was very troublesome. After most of the day, he said, "Give the Yang family a thousand pieces of silk and one million yuan. If you investigate it for me, what descendants will the Yang family have?"

There are many descendants of the Yang family. It is not as written in the Yang family that only one son Yang Yanyu died in battle, and the other sons lived well. There was also a general named Wang Gui. Later, there was a famous Wang Gui, who was a general under Yue Fei. It was this person who betrayed and falsely accused Yue Fei, which allowed Qin Hui to find an excuse to imprison Yue Fei. The two Wang Gui were a world apart.

Chen Zhizhong said: "Your Majesty. I am afraid that Zheng Lang will anger the Khitan when he travels."

It’s not a good idea to pay homage to Yang Ye before he was on an envoy.

Zhao Zhen shook his head and said, "Chen Qing, you don't understand. Zheng Lang is telling the court that Yang Ye is an example. Even if he dies, he will not surrender to the Khitans."

The hall was quiet.

But Zhao Zhen could almost believe what he said.

Since I went to Taipingzhou Lake to deal with the dispute, Zheng Lang has been brave enough. When he arrived in the northwest, he was even more at the forefront and opened fire at me. After Zhao Zhen said that, he sighed. There were too few good ministers like this. If there were ten or eight more of the Song Dynasty, why worry about the Song Dynasty not being strong?

Looking at other officials in the country, often dozens of thieves were so scared that they opened the door to surrender when they arrived. They could not compare, and they would be scary. They murmured: "Taizong favored Yang Ye, and Yang Ye repaid his death. It would be too tragic..."

He didn't want something like Yang Ye to happen to Zheng Lang.

Then he looked at the north and at this moment, he was a little confused.

...

Zhao Zhen also guessed it right, but Zheng Lang had another intention. Zhao Zhen did not guess. Zheng Lang was also afraid that Shi Jie was dead, and Xia Shu could still slander him for escaping to the Khitan. It would take a long time to go to the Khitan and want to escape. God knows what the imperial demons said? The three of them talked about tigers. When the black and white were turned upside down, would they become the second Li Ling?

After sending the letter away, he spoke to the Khitan officials in Shuozhou.

The magistrate of Shuozhou asked carefully: "Grandpa Zheng, how did you send my dynasty from Yanmen Pass?"

It was wrong, and it was not in accordance with the rules. The court sent a reception envoy, but the reception envoy went to Youzhou.

Zheng Lang replied: "I admire Yang Ye very much. This time I went to the Northern Dynasties to go to the Northern Dynasties, so I took a detour to Daizhou and came to see where Yang Ye died in battle."

The Khitan officials remained silent.

Zheng Lang slowly returned to Shuozhou again. The two countries had been peaceful for many years, and the hatred was gradually resolved. Moreover, most of them were Han people. As the rumors spread, the Khitan forced the Song Dynasty to hand over Zheng Lang, and it was possible that Zheng Lang would use it more, so Zheng Lang's deeds were widely circulated in the Khitan territory.

It spreads even more evilly.

It can be compared with Zhuge Liang in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

The people in the city were crowded with people, so they squeezed out to watch together.

Actually, what's good about it? An ordinary person, either, is different, wearing a white robe. This is also an exception in the history of the two countries. It was during the Ding You period, when Zheng Lang resigned from all his official positions and strictly guarded the Confucian funeral.

There is another advantage. The Song Dynasty's official system was promoted, with no exception. However, Zheng Lang only promoted but not reduced. It was not very good. Taking advantage of Ding You to resign his official position was equivalent to demotion. With a buffer, there would be fewer gossip.

When he was on an envoy, the court wanted to re-appoint his official position. Zheng Lang only received a position as a scholar in Longtu Pavilion, and no others were given. One was Dingyouqi, and the other was that if he was appointed as an official, even if he was a political affairs officer, he would be too high to serve as an envoy to Khitan, and his official position would be too high and would have a bad reputation for the court. He would never accept it.

So he came to the Khitan in white clothes.

The crowd was talking, and some people said, "Good demeanor, it would be better if they were more handsome."

Zheng Lang shook his head in his heart. What should I do if this look was given by his parents? He is not as handsome as Di Qing, but he is not ugly.

But after many big scenes, he was calm and smiling, and the garden was like a spring breeze, and his smiley eyes still caused some ignorant girls to scream.

Stay in Shuozhou for two days.

Most of them preach the meaning of the scriptures and treatises with some Confucians.

The Khitan was very sinicized, especially Confucian books, and many people learned it. However, the two countries had a strange practice. In terms of friendship, since the Chanyuan Covenant, the friendship between the two countries was far greater than that of other countries. Until the demise of the Khitan, there was almost no large-scale war between the two countries. However, the mentality of guarding against each other was very serious. Therefore, there were very few academic exchanges between the two sides. The Song Dynasty looked down on the Confucians in the Khitan at all and disdained them. The academic Khitans of the Song Dynasty strictly controlled the Han people in the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun. However, the gap was too big, so we had to let go of the precepts from time to time, and some books, poems, lyrics and lyrics flowed into the Khitan, which was also strictly reviewed.

So Khitan Confucianism was very backward. Later, there was a liquor poem, which was a symbol of the accusation. The young people were attached to the officials, and they all were justified when they wanted to teach them. I remember that when I was studying, my teacher was incompetent, and I had no other name. I taught the depressed literary style of the Analects of Confucius to Chengdu. I didn’t know that the private school teacher was very harmful to the students.

Communication is not very difficult, almost everyone speaks Chinese. The only difference is that the local accent is slightly different. However, when talking about the meaning of Confucian classics, I often hear some ridiculous words. Some so-called gentlemen, Zheng Lang, thinks about it. It may not be as deep as the first and second grade students in the Chinese department in later generations.

After staying for two days, these Confucian scholars held pens and made records one by one. Some of the white-haired old men also listened attentively, so as to avoid missing a word. They were the top scholars of the Song Dynasty, but they were not worth it. They were the smallest big three Yuan, and they also had Confucian classics. Although they were small, they were more knowledgeable than themselves. Zheng Lang's approachable style also moved them. Even when Zheng Lang left, many Confucian scholars hid on the side of the Tao and cried bitterly, saying repeatedly: "When will we meet the top scholar?"

Passing through the northwest corner of Yingzhou, heading to Xijing.

The most densely populated area of ​​Khitan is Nanjing Youzhou area, followed by Xijing Datong area. There are more than one million people in the Khitan Ministry of Revenue, and the two capitals account for more than 800,000 people. Therefore, some historians speculate that the population of Khitan is less than five million. The rational speculate is more than nine million.

Zheng Lang asked secretly.

This is also very important. As many people as there will be, the number of soldiers will be generated, the number of productivity will be generated, and the number of wealth will be created.

All statements are a bit inaccurate.

More than 90% of the two capitals are farming and making a living. Even if I see a few herders in Chenjiagu, they are just grazing in the nearby mountains. They still focus on farming, and grazing is only a small subsidy. Most people settle down, and the population is easy to count. Although the population is gradually sparse, it is impossible to be dozens of times the area of ​​the two capitals, accounting for only 20% of the population. Instead, it is mostly nomadic, wandering and living with water and grass, and cannot be counted. These hundreds of thousands of people are the number of settled people. Only five capitals have not settled at least 400,000 or 500,000. If it is included, the number of people who have not settled in the five capitals is at least 400,000 or 500,000.

The actual number of enemy Wugu and the Jurchens is at least three million, which may be close to four million. The actual population is only six or seven million in the Wujing area. Other areas are sparsely populated, but the total number will exceed ten million. If other factors are taken into account, some of the remaining troops must be divided, some of the people engaged in nomadic production, some tribes may not be convinced, unwilling to obey the order, or just give in to the snake, and only a small number of troops can be sent. The maximum number of military horses that the Khitan can mobilize at one time will not exceed 400,000. Four hundred thousand is the limit number.

But there is a very important question.

The Yinbu and other tribes were all Khitan-bound areas, and it is hard to say that they rebel and repatriate. The scope of the Khitan's real rule was very small, only in the Five Capitals. Even if there were Five Capitals, Xijing, Baidadan, and Tokyo still had some Bohai people who were still uncontrolled. In other words, the population of the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun may be more than 60% of the actual population controlled by the Khitan. If the Song Dynasty recovered the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun, wouldn't it take the Khitan's life?

The actual control scope of the Song Dynasty was also very pitiful. For example, Hebei and Hedong only controlled the southern part of Hebei and Shanxi, and the north was controlled by the Khitan. Lingnan was in charge of the management, and there were a lot of problems with Jinghu Road, not to mention Kuizhou Road. The population of the Ministry of Revenue in the Song Dynasty was more than 1,200,000 households, and there were many uncountable households. Some hidden households, as well as the Jinghu and Kuizhou areas in Lingnan, had an actual population of nearly 100 million, and only 80% were truly controlled.

If you want to develop, it is not only about expanding your territory, but also about controlling your area!

If the little Khitan emperor knew that Zheng Lang was talking to some officials, he would analyze the information from their voices and could immediately cut Zheng Lang.

Zheng Lang was also very careful and would not ask deliberately. He occasionally induced the topic up. There were not many useful news, but there were a few enough messages. When he came to Xijing, as the second largest city in the Khitan population, Xijing Prefecture was not smaller than Datong in later generations. Of course, the population was not as large as that in the future, but the area might be slightly larger.

Because of discussions with the Song Dynasty, the business was very developed and it was also one of the wealthiest prefectures in the Khitan. Zheng Lang secretly paid attention to it when the people were welcomed by the people. It was amazing for the Khitan. In fact, the prosperity of Datong was far from being as good as the first-class cities of the Song Dynasty, and it was only similar to second-class cities such as Runzhou, Chuzhou, Xuzhou, Zhending, and Qingzhou.

Stayed for several more days.

The Khitan companion arrived and sent a big shot, Liu Liufu and Xiao Hui. Since Liu Liufu made great contributions, he has been promoted quickly and has squeezed into the ranks of top-ranking Khitan bosses, not to mention Xiao Hui.

Xiao Hui said: "Grandpa Zheng, why did you come to the west of Beijing?"

The Khitan monarch and ministers were puzzled together.

He said he spyed on the information, but where Zheng Lang passed, he walked along the road without looking at the terrain. Then he explained Confucianism and communicated with Confucians. It was a normal manifestation.

Zheng Lang replied: "I went to worship Yang Ye, don't think too much about Duke Wei."

Xiao Hui didn't believe it very much, but he was saying in his heart, "It's up to you, anyway, you have already come to the Khitan, and no matter how capable you are, you can't jump out of the palm of the Tathagata Buddha. He said, "My Lord heard that Mr. Zheng came from the Southern Dynasties and deliberately drove south from the Changchun River, and ordered me to take you to Nanjing."

"Thank you, Your Majesty," Zheng Lang said calmly.

But I was amused in my heart. It was absolutely impossible to give myself the official position that Han Derang had back then. So what should I do? I had to treat it better in etiquette. Anyway, although the Khitan attached great importance to etiquette, it was far less than that in the Song Dynasty.
To be continued...