In 663 AD, the Tangut people faced the threat of the Tubo people and moved eastward to the Tang Dynasty with the permission of Li Shimin, Emperor Taizong. Since this year, the Tangut people have actually been a submissive subordinate relationship to the Central Plains regime. Whether it was the powerful Tang Dynasty, Hou Liang, Later Tang Dynasty, Later Jin Dynasty, Later Han Dynasty and Later Zhou Dynasty in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, and the Great Song Dynasty established in 960, the Tangut people all surrendered. But in 982, a tip-off letter from inside the Tangut changed this submissive relationship. In 10, Li Jijun, the leader of the Tangut, died of illness. Li Jijun's son was young and his uncle Li Jipeng usurped the throne. This caused confusion among the Tangut nobles and political circles. Those who opposed Li Jipeng wrote an informer letter to Zhao Guangyi, Song Taizong, claiming that Li Jipeng had acceded to the throne illegally. At this time, the Northern Song Dynasty has basically completed the unification of the Central Plains. Zhao Guangyi wanted to take this opportunity to unify the difficult military areas occupied by the Tangut, so he adopted the old method and ordered the Tangut nobles to move to Bianjing, so as to eliminate the Tangut people's control over northwest Zhou Xia, Yinzhou, Suizhou, Yizhou and Jingzhou. For the Northern Song Dynasty, this is the great cause of reunifying the country, while for the Tangut people, this is the moment of national survival. In the final battle, the Tangut people made their own choice again-resistance! The life and death of the Tangut people actually gave them a chance to rise completely. How did the Tangut people establish Xixia from a weak local government in a short period of 56 years, from 982 AD when Li publicly rebelled against Song Ting to 1038 AD when he proclaimed himself emperor? According to historical records, I will briefly analyze the diplomatic and military policies of the Tangut in three stages, and explain the inevitability of the rise of the Tangut. Li in the founder period of Xixia Dynasty: Resisting Song with Liao and Resisting Song. Reason: In 982, Zhao Guangyi issued a decree to let the Tangut nobles move to Bianjing, and Li Jipeng, the leader of the Tangut and our commander in chief, could only obey. However, a young man was unwilling to give in and took on the historical responsibility of the Tangut's resistance to the Song Dynasty and leading the rise of the Tangut. This is Li. According to the records of Xixia, in June, 982, Li received an imperial edict from the Song Dynasty, asking him to move to Bianjing, and asked him to "escort Li's relatives to the grave". At this time, Li Jipeng and others had been detained in Bianjing by the Song Dynasty. Li Cai woke up from a dream and knew that Wuzhou and other places where the Tangut people had lived for generations had been controlled by Song Ting. Li didn't want to do it, so he discussed countermeasures with his younger brother Li Jichong and minister Zhang Pu. Li Dao: "My ancestors ate purple soil for more than 300 years, and their children lived in prefectures and counties, overlooking one side. Now, the clan is called into Beijing to live and die together. Lee won't eat blood! what can I do? Zhang Pu analyzed the strength contrast between the Tangut and the Song Dynasty, and advocated: "I heard that a small bend is a big stretch. If I don't avoid Mobei, I will settle down, contact my friends and start over. It's not too late. " Li accepted Zhang Pu's suggestion, pretended that the wet nurse was dead, and would be buried in the suburbs of Yinzhou, leading dozens of family members and cronies to escape from the control of Song Bing, and went straight to Jinze Oasis in the deep desert of northern Yinzhou, and began the great cause of resisting Song Dynasty. It can be seen that Li's unwillingness to be annexed by the Song Dynasty, or even the loss of Tangut lineage, is the main reason for raising the flag. After losing the first battle, Li fled to Dijinze and was listed as the most wanted man in the Song Dynasty. At this time, Li was alone. Although he contacted some Tangut tribes who were dissatisfied with the Song Dynasty, he only made an army of several thousand people. It is not an order of magnitude contest with the powerful Northern Song Dynasty. In February 65438+982, Li led the Tangut Army to attack and was defeated by Song Jun. In May 983, Li attacked Jia Luchuan in the Northern Song Dynasty (now northwest of Jiaxian County, Shaanxi Province) and suffered a heavy defeat. In September 983, he attacked Sanchakou in the Northern Song Dynasty (now southwest of Wushen Banner in Inner Mongolia) and lost again. As can be seen from previous wars, Li's army was no match for Song Jun at all.1September, 984, it was learned that Li's tribe was stationed in Dijinze, and thousands of cavalry raided at night, burning all the tents of the Tangut, killing thousands of soldiers who captured the Tangut, and Li's mother and wife became prisoners. Li and his younger brother, Li Jichong, abandoned the people and fled, so they could only live on the support of the tribe. This is a big blow to Li, but it also gives Li an opportunity to think-the Tangut is weak and he can't confront the head. In 986, after analyzing the situation, Li sent someone to contact Liao in the north and expressed his willingness to submit. At that time, the war between Song and Liao was fierce, and the enemy of the enemy was a friend. Realizing that it was not bad to support an enemy in the northwest of Song Dynasty, Emperor Sheng Zong of Liao made Li our envoy, observed the difficult troops and dealt with them in Yin, Xia, Sui and Yi countries. The Song and Liao wars in this period gave the Tangut people a chance to recuperate. 1February, 986, Li took this opportunity to falsely claim that he had surrendered to the Song Dynasty, trapped and killed Cao, the general of Song Yinzhou, and captured Yinzhou. Harassing Zhou Xia. In the Song Dynasty, the main force was concentrated on dealing with Liao country, and Li had no time to take care of it. In 988, in order to quell the war between the northwest and the Tangut, Li was appointed as our envoy to the difficult army, and was given the title of Zhao and Zhao Baozhong. This gave Li a precious breathing space. Capture: Li verbally supported the Song Dynasty, but in fact he kept writing letters to demand the return of the five kingdoms of Yin, Xia, Sui, Yi and Jing in Xixia. This, of course, was rejected by Song Taizong. This gave Li an excuse. In 993, Li sent troops to attack Gyeongju, Yuanzhou and other places in the Song Dynasty, and the Song Dynasty had to rule out the encirclement and suppression of the Tangut Army by the Fifth Route Army. During this period, the Tangut people gradually developed their wings, adopted guerrilla warfare, avoided their main force in Song Jun, and constantly invaded Song Jun's supply lines. Song Jun could not find the main battlefield of the Tangut, so he had to withdraw. The party constantly used blitzkrieg to harass retreating Song Jun, which led to the failure of Song Jun. In 993-94, Li successively recovered Suizhou, Yinzhou, Yizhou and other places. 1in may, 997, Song Taizong Zhao Guangyi died of illness. The main strategic direction of succession was Liao, and he was unable to recover his troops against the Tangut, so he adopted the strategy of wooing the people in this direction. 65438+February 1997, the Song Dynasty once again named Li as a secretariat, appointed an envoy to the difficult army, and finally recognized the political power of the Tangut. From 982 to 997, when the Northern Song Dynasty recovered the place where the Tangut was difficult for the army, Li fought with the Northern Song Dynasty for 16 years. His success mainly benefited from the war and the Tangut people's strategy of relying on Liao to resist Song. During the period of Li Deming, Li's base area, after expanding Li in accordance with Liao, Song and West and recovering the land, he changed his strategic direction and consolidated his rule over difficult military areas. On the surface, Li was a courtier of the Song Dynasty, but Li was never satisfied with it, because the Tangut was much weaker than the powerful Song Dynasty. 1003, Li made xiping county his capital for the first time. Xiping county is farther away from the hinterland of the Song Dynasty than Zhou Xia, and it is easier to defend. Secondly, it began to fight against Tubo in the west and seized Liangzhou controlled by Tubo. Get in touch with the threat posed by Tubo. 1003 In March, the governor of Liangzhou lied about offering the city to surrender, but secretly set an ambush and besieged Li who came to surrender. Li escaped with serious injuries and died in the first month of 1004. Li passed the seat to his son Li Deming and left a note for Li Deming, explaining the strategy of the Tangut. There are two main last words: one is to pay tribute to Song and Liao at the same time according to Liao and Song; Second, expand to the west and send Tubo people to seize the vast strategic hinterland; According to his father Li's strategy, Li Deming kept writing letters to express his willingness to submit, and sent a large number of tributes to the Song Dynasty every year, so as to reduce the vigilance of the Northern Song Dynasty to the Tangut people and the threat of war. On the other hand, Li Deming began to fight against the northwest. There are two main intentions: to completely control the Hetao area and obtain important grasslands and cultivated land; Control the Hexi Corridor, an important throat of the Silk Road, and cut off the economic ties between the Central Plains and the western regions; The policy of "relying on Liao and Song" accepted the titles of Liao and Song at the same time, which made the Tangut become the object of the Song and Liao's efforts to win over and lifted the threat of the powerful Liao and Northern Song Dynasties. The policy of "expanding to the west" has enabled the Tangut people to win important strategic hinterland and resources, and to win living space and land supply for their own survival. In a few years, Li Deming fought Tubo and Uighur successively, captured Xiliangfu, Ganzhou, Guazhou and Shazhou, and completely controlled the Hexi Corridor. 1020, Li Deming once again moved the capital to Xingqing House (now Yinchuan City, Ningxia), which once again won the security for the capital. As can be seen from the map, Xingqing House is backed by Helan Mountain, facing the Yellow River and taking Xiping House, the old capital, as a barrier. After more than 30 years of management and exaggeration by Li Deming, the Tangut people controlled the Hexi Corridor, stretching for thousands of miles from Yumenguan in the west to Huizhou (Huining County, Ganbaiyin City, Gansu Province) in the east. During the Li Deming period, the stable political environment, prosperous economy, developed agriculture and vast ruling areas laid a solid foundation for the establishment of Xixia Kingdom. Li Yuanhao period: independence, proclaimed emperor to establish Xixia 1032, Li Deming died and Li Yuanhao acceded to the throne. The fate of the Tangut is in the hands of this flamboyant young man. Since then, it has soared to the sky, and it has written a colorful stroke in the history of China-Xixia. After Li Yuanhao proclaimed himself emperor, there was only one thing he needed to do, and that was to proclaim himself emperor. Because of the heavy history, the Tangut people have migrated for more than 300 years, lived under the sponsor for more than 370 years, and died of illness for more than 50 years. Ancestors have shouldered this seven or eight hundred years of history for him. In front of Li Yuanhao, there was a huge, rich and powerful Xixia Dynasty, which was unmatched by others. After Li Yuanhao's political reform, Li Yuanhao, with the Tangut hairstyle, made a series of reforms on the road to becoming emperor. First, cultural reform: 1. Abolish the Li and Zhao surnames who gave the Tangut Royal Tuoba in the Tang and Song Dynasties, and change their surnames to "Yi" and even seal "Wu Zu"; 2. Instruct Minister Ye Liren Rong and others to create Xixia characters; 3. Establish "Fanzi Academy" to cultivate national talents; 4. Simplify the system of rites and music in Tang and Song Dynasties, and establish its own system of rites and music; 5. Reform clothing, wear fur and prohibit silk; 6. Hairstyle reform, from hair accessories in the Central Plains to shaving and combing; Li Yuanhao's cultural reforms have only one purpose, that is, to get rid of the cultural influence of the Central Plains Dynasty. Secondly, the political and military reform: 1. * * * institutions were established after the Central Plains Dynasty; 2. Shengxingfu is Xingqing Prefecture and is designated as the national capital; 3. Establish a system of central and local officials; 4. Establish a regular military service system and military system; 5. Standardize the tax system; The embryonic form of a country is gradually taking shape. After several years' reform in Li Yuanhao, a Tangut regime, which starts from the Yellow River in the east, reaches Yumen in the west, reaches Xiaoguan in the south, reaches the desert in the north, and is a land of Wan Li, has appeared in front of the world and is displayed on the picture scroll of history. In A.D. 1038, Li Yuanhao built an altar in the southern suburb of Xingqing House and officially ascended the throne of the emperor. Daxia (known as Xixia in history), the first year was an extension of the God-given ritual system-Xixia Dynasty was formally established. Li Yuanhao was able to claim the title of emperor and establish Xixia because of the growth of the military and economic strength of the Tangut. After 800 years of changes, the Tangut people have finally been written into the history of China as an independent regime. To sum up, the territory of Xixia and the surrounding political power are the rise of Tangut people and the establishment of Xixia Empire, which is the necessity of historical development. In the period of Li, relying on Liao to resist Song won the survival for the Tangut, avoided being completely wiped out by Song, and ensured the political status of the Tangut in history. During Li Deming's period, "expanding to the west according to Liao and Song Dynasties" won a broader living space for the Tangut people and made them the most powerful regime in the northwest. The establishment of Xixia by Li Yuanhao marked the final rise of Xixia, and "expanding to the west according to Liao" was a precious treasure left by Li to the Tangut. If Li is the founder of Xixia Dynasty and Li Deming is the founder of Xixia Dynasty, he is naturally the founder of Xixia Dynasty. Under the leadership of Li, Li Deming and three generations of leaders, it took the Tangut people 56 years to grow from the brink of collapse to a powerful Xixia Empire. This is the power that the Tangut people are inspired by life and death. This is the mission entrusted to the Tangut by history. This is an immortal legend. (End of full text)