Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 547 0542 [Three Liu Brothers]

Because Mi Qin, the defender of Huizhou, surrendered to Xingxing, Yang Zhi captured Huizhou too quickly, completely disrupting the pace of negotiations between the Xixia kings and ministers.

Xixia could only mobilize troops from the Jingsai Military Division, Jianing Military Division, Xiangyou Military Division, and Shenyong Military Division to cover the empty Xishou Military Division.

Moreover, all the troops of these military divisions cannot be withdrawn, and enough soldiers must be left to defend the fortress.The problem is that Xixia took advantage of the situation last year and expanded its territory to a large area, which required a large number of troops to be deployed in the forts everywhere.

Xixia chose to abandon some forts, shrink its troops to consolidate its defense lines, and kidnap the population of the abandoned areas.

This gave Liu Yanqing, Zhe Keqiu, Liu Zhengyan, Miao Fu and others the opportunity. Although they did not have enough troops and food to expand, they could try to regain the lost territory in their respective jurisdictions.

The toad is lying on the feet, but if it doesn't bite, it's disgusting!
Xixia was so disgusted by these soldier leaders that even Lianzhou City was forced to give up and retreat all the way to Hongde Village where Baimachuan and Guidechuan met.

It was impossible not to do this, because while Miao Fu and Liu Zhengyan were advancing on Huanzhou City, they also divided their forces to attack Ansai Village and Whitingburg in the east.

It is more troublesome to transport military rations there. Xixia did not leave many soldiers to defend it, and sooner or later it will be conquered by Miao and Liu.Then they can march westward over the mountains and ridges, attack Ulunbao and Suyuan Village behind Huanzhou City, and completely cut off the retreat and food routes of the Huanzhou City defenders.

Liu Zhengyan, the imperial magistrate of Huanzhou, finally got his own state city back and no longer had to spend all day training in the stockade.

Moreover, because the Xixia garrison in Huanzhou City retreated hastily, they did not kidnap many people, so Liu Zhengyan still had some people available.

After being reminded by Wang Yuan's letter, Miao Fu and Liu Zhengyan immediately went to the imperial court and requested to resign from their respective posts as prefects, hoping that the imperial court could send floating officials to govern.

……

"Miao and Liu are very aware of current affairs," Zhu Guoxiang asked, "I don't have a suitable candidate, who do you think should be sent to be the prefect of Huanqing?"

Ju Ming smiled and said: "Liu Ziyu."

Zhu Guoxiang immediately had an impression: "He is the son of the Huai'an magistrate recommended by Li Bao, Wang Yuan, and Fang Mengqing? Is he famous in history?"

Ju Ming explained: "There is a person who specializes in biographies in the History of the Song Dynasty, who can be called a versatile person in both civil and military affairs. The person who talks about literature first is said to be proficient in classics and history at the age of ten. After Zhu Xi lost his father, he has been living with Liu Ziyu. He is both Zhu Xi and Zhu Xi. His teacher was also equivalent to Zhu Xi’s adoptive father, and he had a great influence on Zhu Xi’s thoughts.”

"As for martial arts, Liu Ziyu went to the military camp with his father when he was 11 years old. It is said that he practiced shooting three hundred arrows every day. He was also proficient in the art of war and made contributions during the conquest of Fangla. But his real fame came after the Jingkang Disgrace."

Zhu Guoxiang understood: "Is this man also a famous general of the Southern Song Dynasty?"

Zhu Ming shook his head and said: "Not a famous general, but a famous marshal. His father Liu Kai died in Jingkang. He himself was recommended by Zhang Jun to lead the five armies in Qinzhou. This man is very good at training troops and he can train them in a short time. He formed a strong army and recovered the lost lands of Yan'an, Jinning, Linfu, Yanzhou, Fangzhou, etc. He was promoted to a close minister of Zhao Gou due to his meritorious service. Later, the front line was greatly defeated. Liu Ziyu was once again ordered to face danger and quickly gathered more than [-] stragglers. Wu Jie, Guan Guan, etc. Shigu and others were all under his control. Without Liu Ziyu's overall planning, Wu Jie's Monk Yuan victory would not have been possible. It is estimated that the Sichuan-Shaanxi defense line in the Southern Song Dynasty would have collapsed at that time."

"This man is a bit like a firefighter who went to put out fires a few years later. At the most dangerous time, as a commander-in-chief, he led 45 soldiers to guard the mountain stronghold and was at the forefront of the Jin soldiers' attack. It's a pity that he was punished for his meritorious service. He was framed and demoted by a treacherous minister, and then worked as a local official for more than ten years. Finally, as a local official, he reached the front line. Facing the Jin soldiers who marched south to clear the country, he organized hundreds of thousands of people to evacuate in an orderly manner. However, he was insulted by the Jin soldiers when they negotiated peace. Flag, was impeached and undermined major peace talks, was dismissed from office at the age of [-] and retired to seclusion.”

Zhu Guoxiang was surprised: "Having done so many things, he is only 45 years old. Isn't this man younger now?"

"He should be around 30 years old this year," Ju Ming made a mental calculation. "This person doesn't appear much in history books, but every time he takes over, it's a mess, and he can always save the building from falling. But his official career , he works as a local civil servant most of the time and has nothing to do with the military. His character attributes are at least S-level or above, but whether he can be rated as double S or triple S requires him to do more things. After all, he does Commander, your time is too short."

Zhu Guoxiang automatically ignored the S attribute and said, "Then let him take over Huanqing Mansion."

According to the normal trajectory, Liu Kai and Liu Ziyu, father and son, should be transferred to Shou Zhending this winter. They persisted for several months and the Jin people returned without success.

They were officials in eastern Zhejiang, and Liu Kai was promoted to Beijing by Zhao Huan. As soon as the family arrived in Huainan, they met Li Bao leading his troops to conquer the two Huaihe Rivers.After that, Li Bao led his troops to Kaifeng, and Fang Mengqing led a group of new soldiers to continue to attack the city and seize the territory. Afterwards, it was difficult to distinguish between the soldiers and the bandits, creating a mess.

Under Fang Mengqing's persuasion, the father and son helped take over Lianshui.

It only took them two months to suppress and eliminate the banditry, and they even had the ability to help Chuzhou next door to suppress bandits.

Wang Yuan took a thousand heavily armored guards and went to Lianghuai to clean up and reorganize the new army. Liu Kai and Liu Ziyu and his son also contributed a lot, so they were jointly recommended by Li Bao, Wang Yuan, and Fang Mengqing.

Liu Kai was appointed as the first prefect of Huai'an after the restructuring. However, the three brothers Liu Ziyu, Liu Ziyi, and Liu Zihui were recruited to the capital by Ju Ming himself.

The three brothers were all sent to the Hanlin Academy to compile books. They were bored all day long, and now they were suddenly ordered to enter the palace.

Halfway through, Liu Ziyi said with a smile: "If any officials from the Hanlin Academy are summoned, they will be re-employed immediately. My three brothers finally made it through."

"But I don't know where to release it." Liu Zihui said.Liu Ziyu said: "It's good to be able to do things. It's always boring to compile books in the Hanlin Academy."

Liu Zihui sighed: "I just hope that the Ming Dynasty will pacify the south as soon as possible. My grandparents are still in their hometown in Fujian."

Liu Ziyi said: "I heard that the foolish emperor did not change his bad government and has forced the people of Fujian to rebel. I just hope that this military disaster will not spread to Chong'an."

Liu Zihui said: "We have seen the prince's thousand-strong armored bodyguards in Huainan. They obey orders and prohibitions and have strict military discipline. They are truly the best soldiers in the world. I heard that there are only three thousand such heavy-armored bodyguards. When the prince is free, , with three thousand heavy-armored guards as the main force, and supplemented by the new troops from the Huaihe River and Huaihe River, a maximum of 3 people can pacify the southeast."

"The strength of the Ming Dynasty's soldiers cannot be predicted by the three thousand heavily armored soldiers," Liu Ziyu said. "In the past, the Song Dynasty also had heavy armored soldiers, who could be invincible against the Xixia soldiers. But it is easy to win the battle. It is difficult to annihilate tens of thousands of prisoners. This victory over Xixia may have something else to rely on."

The three brothers are all talented in both civil and military affairs, because their father is a military general who is familiar with classics and history.

Unfortunately, they were all from the Southern Song Dynasty's main war faction. The eldest brother resigned from office and went into seclusion, while the second and third brothers were also forced to resign.

They had a profound influence on Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism. Liu Ziyu and Liu Zihui were both Zhu Xi's teachers.This made the Neo-Confucian school represented by Zhu Xi, who all advocated the Northern Expedition against the Jin Dynasty at that time, far from being the useless scholars imagined by later generations.

Chatting all the way, the three brothers soon discovered that the road was wrong, and they were actually taken to the garden of the harem.

After arriving, not only the emperor and the prince were there, but also the queen, the concubine, the prince's concubine and the prince's concubine.

The three brothers quickly bowed to each other and greeted each other, not daring to look at the concubine.

Zhu Guoxiang smiled and said: "Sit down quickly, my dear friends. You have a rest today. It's rare that you have some free time."

"Thank you, the official!"

After the three brothers sat down, the food was quickly served.

Miss Wen, who is a royal concubine, pointed to a plate of vegetables and said, "Three of you are from Fujian, have you ever seen this kind of dyed crimson seeds (fungus vegetables)?"

Liu Ziyu shook his head: "Never."

Shen Yourong said: "It is widely cultivated in Sichuan, and the fruit can be used as a red dye, so it is named Dianjiangzi. Officials say that this plant likes temperature and humidity and can survive for several years in the south. However, it cannot survive the winter when transplanted to Kaifeng."

Liu Ziyi said: "It can be dyed and eaten. This product should be promoted in the south. Fujian should be very suitable."

Liu Zihui said with a smile: "My two brothers don't know that this plant also exists in Fujian, but it is not widely planted." It is also recorded in "Erya" that it is also called Luokui, Chenglu and Fanlu. It is also said that Luokui should be Lu. Kui Zhi falsely called it. When I went to Fuzhou, monks in the prefectures and counties near Fuzhou liked this food very much and called it imperial food."

A plate of fungus dishes made the atmosphere very relaxed, and it was more like sitting together and having family fun. Zhu Guoxiang followed the conversation and asked about the customs and customs of Fujian.

The three brothers have lived in Zhejiang for a long time and are more familiar with Zhejiang. They only spent their childhood in Fujian and occasionally returned to Fujian to worship their ancestors.

Gradually, the topic of military affairs came to the fore, and Liu Ziyu said: "The people in the southeast all hate Zhu Meng, but the foolish king is still asking Zhu Meng and his son to collect wealth. If there is enough food and grass, only [-] elite soldiers, supplemented by [-] to [-] miscellaneous soldiers, can The land of Fujian and Zhejiang can be quickly pacified."

"Let's talk next year," Ju Ming asked, "What do you think of the situation in the northwest?"

Liu Ziyu replied: "I have never been to the northwest. I only asked some northwest frontier generals during the expedition against Fangla and drank with them to chat and get information. There are only two directions for using troops in the northwest. One is to send troops from Hehuang to attack the Hexi Corridor. Then It is the wealth center of Xixia; secondly, troops are sent from Hengshan, where the eight tribes of the Party live."

Ju Ming nodded and smiled, signaling Liu Ziyu to continue.

Liu Ziyu said: "To attack the Hexi Corridor from Hehuang, the terrain along the way is complicated, and the grain road is extremely long. If there is a slight mistake, the river will collapse thousands of miles. Therefore, the old Song Dynasty still focused on Hengshan when conquering Xia. They first stabilized the defense line and then gradually moved forward. Advance. But regardless of whether it is Hehuang or Hengshan, the people should actually be able to stabilize the people and collect grain, and first enrich the population in the border areas, so as to minimize the need to mobilize troops and grain from Guanzhong. Four words, plow and fight!"

Ju Ming expressed great satisfaction: "Although you have never been to the northwest, you understand this, which is already valuable. There is no prefect in Huanqing Mansion, so you can go there and remember what you just said."

Liu Ziyu looked at Zhu Guoxiang, who smiled and nodded. He then stood up, saluted, and immediately accepted the errand.

Zhu Guoxiang then said to Liu Ziyi and Liu Zihui: "Shandong and Hebei are unstable, and you must have both civil and military talents to serve as local officials. You two should be county magistrates first, one in Hebei and the other in Shandong."

"I will live up to the great trust of Your Majesty and the Crown Prince!" The two brothers stood up quickly.

(End of this chapter)